West Virginia Democrats Face an Uneasy Time.

[elleng]

Although Democrats have owned West Virginia’s two Senate seats since the Eisenhower administration, Republicans are eyeing this state as one of their best bets as they seek to win a Senate majority next year.

An accelerating rightward tilt here was reflected recently in an awkward two-step by the Democratic nominee for an open seat, Natalie Tennant, as she distanced herself from the White House after a fund-raising trip to New York.

In a Sheraton ballroom, Ms. Tennant, West Virginia’s secretary of state, listened to Michelle Obama urge donors to write “a big old fat check” to her and other women running for the Senate.

But back home, where President Obama is deeply unpopular, Ms. Tennant’s campaign quickly sought to wriggle out of the embrace of the White House, insisting to the local news media that “what the first lady said is not an endorsement.”

Mr. Obama lost all 55 of West Virginia’s counties in 2012 despite a two-to-one registration edge for Democrats, who are increasingly estranged from the national party over issues like guns, immigration and environmental regulations.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/29/us/politics/west-virginia-democrats-face-an-uneasy-time.html?hp

[msongs]

1. obama lost wv because he is black. end of story nt

[lake loon]

2. And this state leads the world

... in stupid. (I live here. I know)

[Lasher]

3. I live here too and I don't believe any such thing.

I think you are being intolerant toward West Virginians.

[HelenWheels]

4. Wisconsin catching up on stupid

I live in WI and can't believe how stupid many of our people are. Look at our Governor for validation into the rule of stupidity.

[Lasher]

6. Wisconsin is actually the 2nd smartest state in the nation.

That's according to this article. They found Vermont to be the smartest state. And what are the dumbest states?

10. New Mexico
09. Louisiana
08. Alabama
07. Mississippi
06. Georgia
05. Alaska
04. Hawaii
03. California
02. Arizona

And the dumbest state of all is Nevada

Poor Nevada. Not only are they one of the unhappiest states in the U.S., but they also have a terrible education system. According to one recent survey, Nevada had the worst public school system in the country, excluding D.C. (lucky for them, not a state and thus not ranked here). On top of this, fewer than 20 percent of Nevadans have completed a bachelor’s degree and only 86 percent have graduated high school. The average SAT score in this state was a 1485, which was the 11th worst nationwide.

In 2008, the Nevada Policy Research Institute argued that the problem was not the amount of money spent on education, but rather where that money went. “By the time a child takes the NAEP fourth-grade reading exam, Nevada has spent more than $40,000 on that child's education,” the institute wrote. Unfortunately, Nevada is still struggling to get it right. The governor recently announced plans for cuts in education spending.

http://www.mainstreet.com/slideshow/lifestyle/smartest-dumbest-states

Sorry, West Virginia wasn't among the 10 smartest or the 10 dumbest, so it wasn't mentioned in this report. But based on other studies I've seen, we rank around #37. That puts us almost among the 10 dumbest but not quite.

I used to think people were stupid if they didn't believe the same things I do. Then I realized I was being stupid for thinking that way.

[MadCrow]

5. Not stupid, ignorant!

As a teacher, I would ask my students, Would you rather be called "stupid" or "ignorant"? I would then explain that ignorant means you don't know, and stupid means you can't learn. I think WV is ignorant because most people here watch too much FOX news. I have a son who is an ardent believer in all that Fox says. How he turned out that way when the rest of my kids are of the "liberal" persuasion, I don't know. Could be the fact that he is a white male and this state is extremely chauvinistic.

[elleng]

7. Yes, and goes with ill-informed,

badly educated, which is part of repugs' plans, keep them 'stupid,' which means actually ignorant of facts necessary to constitute an informed populace.