To Camp Clinton: STOP STEREOTYPING White Working Class West Virginians as a bunch of Racists

I am from West Virginia. Over the years I’ve had to defend my state from such stupid stereotypes as people from West Virginia have wooden teeth, they are a bunch of uneducated idiots, they don’t have indoor plumbing, they marry their cousin, etc. Now the Clintons are broadcasting to the ENTIRE world that white working class West Virginians are just a bunch of uneducated racists who will never vote for a black man.

Bill Clinton has a long relationship with the working class. Many think of the Clinton years as good economic times b/c the devastating impact of legislation that Clinton pushed through during his 8 years in office (e.g., NAFTA and financial deregulation) wasn’t felt until much later.

The Democratic establishment (e.g., Rendell in PA, Strickland in OH, and Easly in NC) have helped the Clintons increase their support among working class whites. Though considering the Clintons would have the ENTIRE world believe that our country (WV, PA, OH, etc.) is full of white working class voters who are a bunch of uneducated racists who will never vote for a black man, I’m puzzled as to why they would even need this support to attract the white working class vote.

Clinton is projected to win WV with a significant margin. The Clintons and their hacks will hail this as proof that WV, a key swing state (according to them), is full of a bunch of working class white racists who will never vote for a black man. This unfair stereotype will be broadcast to the entire world and will become part of the perception of the people of West Virginia.

Are there racists in West Virginia and other states? Sure. But not to the degree that the Clintons would have you believe. Once again the Clintons prove that they are willing to do ANYTHING to win. Painting AMERICAN working class whites (who they profess to care so much about) as a bunch of racists who would never vote for a black man….that’s just politics as usual for the Clintons.

Painting the U.S. as a country full of white working class racists should really help attract foreign tourists. The Clintons are really doing one heck of a job of helping our ailing economy.

I would hope that the Senators and Representatives from West Virginia would call on the Clintons to stop stereotyping working class whites in West Virginia as a bunch of racists who would never vote for a black man. Unfortunately, the Govs of PA and OH have shown that they are more than willing to go along with portraying their citizens as a bunch of racists if it will curry political favor with the Clintons.

degree that the Clintons would have you believe. Otherwise, why would they need to even ENTER the state to win with a significant margin? They are out of money so WHY would they even spend any time there if WV was not but a bunch of working class racists?

I sure hope you are not trying to say WV is a racist state.

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no matter how wrong or narrow it may be.

Perhaps you meant a state with a lot of racist residents?

... "Damn, West Virginia sure seems like the most racist state in the country."

No kidding. And this conversation went on and on.

WTG, Bill and Hillary! :-(

perception for years to come. I wish Senator Byrd would come out and nail the Clintons on how they are using the people of WV.

My paternal grandmother lived in West Virginia, and I used to love visiting there. I went to college at Ohio University, near the West Virginia border, and I know that this part of the country is jaw-droppingly beautiful. You really do have to see it to believe it.

So I have a deep West Virginia connection, and also a connection to Kentucky, as I now live in the Cincinnati, Ohio area and work downtown, right across the river from Kentucky. Hillary is damaging the reputation of both of these vibrant, beautiful states, and it is nothing short of disgusting to me.

what the Clintons are doing puts W VA in a stereotypical box. It hurts the image of the state a LOT.
(I'm familiar with the state having been there many times).

They didn't have the NERVE to do this before North Carolina....except their message is now, well of course Obama won NC, because it's so full of AA, instead of the equally true fact that (wow) many whites supported Obama in NC, too. Obviously. But NC is a "black" state so "of course" it goes for Obama.

This sleazy racial implication is tailor made for WV and Kentucky and if I lived there, I would be very upset by this. It takes those states back to the dark ages, when in fact there is racism in every part of this country, to a greater or lesser extent.

Or take a vacation to the Wild and Wonderful state of WV.

Here in southern Ohio, we know a thing or two about West Virginia, and we were so shocked by the polls that it started the conversation.

The entire point of my post seemed to have escaped you.

...who would never vote for a black man. You should retract that statement. Words matter.

painting the white working class as a bunch of racists who would never vote for a black man, if it serves their purpose.

Making up lies about the Clintons seems to be a recent fad and will
go away by itself. The people of WV know who doth protest too much.

But I am not going to cry racism because of it.

It is the same reason they vote for Obama in this primary.

thank you.

but the reality is I've been advising people to move on, her campaign is no longer relevant, we need to be concentrating on defeating McCain.

...I am not the starter of this thread, which is about Hillary Clinton. If you want people to focus on defeating McCain, then why aren't you criticizing the OP in the same way that you are criticizing me? I'll tell you why... because you like what the OP had to say.

...did you hold me to account for responding to a thread about Hillary Clinton?

:shrug:

as the links I provided show, I sent a general shout out to everyone to start focusing on mccain. If you're expecting me to do it individually for all gazillion DU members, then you're going to have to keep on whining.

GO AHEAD, TELL US. Is there some dramatic difference in their economic policies? Care to tell us what it is?

...that white Americans would not vote for Barack Obama before the information sinks in?

Do not ask another question based on a false premise.

The last poll I saw had her up 56-23, which means there's 21% undecided. You want revenge, West Virginia? Go to the polls and make her SWEAT for that win the way she had to in Texas, Indiana and PA! If you can't hit the streets to get out the Obama vote, take out an hour for some local phone banking! Hit her where it will hurt most--right in the voting booth! YES, YOU CAN!

:headbang:
rocknation

I'm not only from here but I live and survive here now. I strongly diagree with
your assertion. Your opinion is noted but some facts to back up your tirade would help.

the claim that the Clintons have belittled or stereotyped us here in WV.

stereotyping both West Virginians and Obama and his supporters

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x5931142

Not only do the Clintons insult Obama's Democratic coalition, but Hillary's as well.

He would be President today, I think.

People are more likely to vote for an "outsider" if that "outsider" invests a considerable amount of energy on their state and its problems.

Are you helping out on Obama's campaign? I made calls here in Texas and went door to door. Although many shared that they had already decided to vote for McCain, people were generally very kind. One thing I also learned is that there is not as much of a divide as you may have guessed just looking at internet forums. People who told me they had early-voted for Clinton also expressed that it was early and they would vote for the dem in the fall - regardless of who made it.

Are you sensing any support for Obama where you are?

in a West Virginia "gated community" (a.k.a. trailer park). I'm still poor, and I still live in a trailer park, although I'm currently in college to try and climb out of the poverty that I was raised in. Folks around here (at least in my experience with my neighbors, friends, and family members) aren't racist, but they believe that he's too far left. It's not ABOUT race. It's about the fact that Obama has the passionate and LOUD devotion of the far left. Obama could be purple for all that West Virginia cares; the point is that a lot of folks around here think he's just the liberal version of Bush, thanks to the insane amount of media coverage given to the far-lefties who support him the loudest. Average people here think he's further left than Ted Kennedy, and probably a "secret Muslim" to boot, which is unbelievable considering how much time Obama spent trying to get rid of that particular falsehood.

West Virginians are pretty centrist; unfortunately, lots of them see Obama as a tool of the far left, and they consider that to be just as bad as Bush, who ran as a "compassionate conservative" but turned out to be a tool of the far right. They want peace and a political cease-fire for a while, and they're afraid that electing someone who's obviously a darling of the Big-L Liberals like us will translate to four-to-eight more years of vengeful vitriol and political mud-flinging. The most liberal, progressive, intelligent candidate in the WORLD cannot do us a damned bit of good if the centrists think that he or she is too far left. They'll vote for "maverick" McCain because they respect his service and they like the fact that he has the reputation of a rebel against his own party. That translates to "moderate" in their ears, regardless of whether or not it's actually true.

This is also why Obama isn't going to win the general election without some drastic damage-control action, but nobody around here wants to hear it. Centrists (or at least perceived centrists) are the ones who win national elections. Obama IS a centrist, but his supporters make it look otherwise in the eyes of ordinary folks. As soon as we nominate Obama, the Repuke leaders nationwide will be jumping for freaking joy, because they know damned well that their "maverick" has just been handed the election on a silver platter--by us. It wouldn't surprise me at all to see a flood of Freepers here the day after Obama gets the nomination officially, gloating over our own idiocy, and probably claiming that the Lim-bots had been planning this all along--pretending they wanted Hillary to win when they really wanted Obama to win, because they knew he'd be easier to paint as some far-left nut. Hard to paint Hillary as far-left when our own party has spent the past year railing her for not being leftie *enough*.

If we're gonna lose because Obama is seen as being too far-left, we might as well have nominated poor Dennis. At least he really IS a Liberal Progressive. *sigh* I swear, right now I pray on a daily basis that someone uncovers something nasty about McCain right before the election, like that he used to eat babies for breakfast or something, because that is truly the only way Obama has a chance of winning unless we figure out a way to make America see that he is NOT some far-left fanatic.

Dammit all to hell, I'm so frustrated I could spit. You ever feel that way? That what seems like the most obvious, common-sense thing in the universe just gets brushed aside because it isn't what the crowd wants to hear? I'd rather be acknowledging this reality and then trying to figure out a way to fix it, but we can't DO anything about it until people freaking admit that the problem EXISTS. Argh.

:banghead:

--paid for by the government? Or would that be the 93% of Dems who want that?

Anyone who uses the frame "far left" is working for Republicans.

Give me a fucking break. You know what? I *AM* far left, and so is pretty much everyone else here. I'm PROUD to be far left--but then again, I'm also not trying to run for the Presidency. You want to insult me like a kindergartener by calling me a Repuke just because you don't like my semantics? Newsflash: being far left is NOT something to be ashamed of. It *is*, however, an albatross to any Presidential candidate who wants to, oh I don't know, WIN.

Take a basic political science course. National elections are won by appealing to the middle--not the extremities of either political ideology. This is not exactly rocket science. I'm realistic enough to recognize that I'm out on the far left. Faaaaaar left. Not many people in America would agree with my ideology, and I realize that. The difference between me and some of the more idealistic denizens of DU is that I know damned well that unless/until we manage to change the minds of average Americans, politicians who are REAL progressives and lefties are never going to win the Presidency--and that includes politicians who are seen as "extremist", whether they actually ARE or not.

Obama needs some image work and damage control, stat. Watch and see--he knows it too. He'll move toward the center and start pissing off DU just like Pelosi did, and he'll be crucified for it here just like she was.

If you use it, you are campaigning for Repukes, period. You have just admitted to being one of those responsible for shifting what is defined as the "center" further and further to the right. Nixon ferchrissakes created the EPA, and was in favor of a managed health care plan similar to what Clinton and Obama are now advocating. Will you just please cut it the fuck out and start breaking Repuke frames instead of repeating them?

Either that, or explain how accepting what Repukes define as "far left" without question helps change the minds of average Americans--all I see it doing is confirming their notion that Dems are a bunch of cowards who don't really believe in anything. "Seen as" extremists is your ticket to the clue train. You seem to want to help the "seen as" frame stay exactly where it is. Why?

And that is a fact.

Democrats greatest ideal since the 60s. We are served best to continue to be leaders in this, really. A great pst btw.

What a joyful campaign this is, huh?

were racists. To the contrary just today I saw numerous posts from Obama supporters propagating the myth the WV is racist among other insults they were dishing out.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=5913193&mesg_id=5913193