I agree. I still smile when I think about Don Blankenship claiming that he was trumpier than Trump. Manchin will win. I suppose Evan Jenkins might have had a better chance of beating Manchin. I’m still new to WV politics.
WV politics can get complicated.
Morrisey came into WV politics from out of the eastern panhandle. He was born in New Jersey, it’s true. The proper rejoiner: so what?
Problem comes when one looks at WV geography. Eastern panhandle much like western Maryland (think Deep Creek). North-central WV centers on Morgantown, home to WVU and an assorted bunch of college/university do-gooders.
Northern Panhandle — think Wheeling, where Mr. Trump will make a stop — used to have a lot of metal-bashing and coal mining jobs. Many of them have disappeared. Shale energy has kept the region from complete economic collapse (think New England textile mill towns).
Moving down from the northern panhandle, eventually one runs into Parkersburg, where the Bureau of the National Debt has its HQ.
Then we drive on down I-77 to Charleston, the state capitol. Those above the Mason-Dixon Line tend to refer to this area and anything south as “downstate”, sometimes not in the most charitable of ways. Here, the WV Legislature, a part-time one, lends a political veneer to a rather provincial place.
Head south and west and one runs into Huntington, where CSX Transportation still has a locomotive shop. Heroin and other opiates represent the only growth industry. It’s a public health problem people are trying to fix. Good thing Marshall University is there, or they’d really be hosed.
In the southern part of the state one finds the coal fields, and this is where many stereotypes of West Virginia come into play. One knows it’s bad when the state penitentiary is put there due to lack of jobs. (that would be McDowell County, typically recognized as the most downtrodden in the state).
Head east towards ol’ Senator Byrd’s stomping ground of Beckley, and you’ll find more stereotype West Virginians. Until you drop into White Sulphur Springs, and find The Greenbrier. That’s the place current WV Governor Jim Justice purchased after he decided he didn’t want to be in the coal business as much.
Oh, yes. Distances. To drive from Martinsburg to Wheeling will take you four and a half hours or so. To drive from Wheeling to Charleston takes you three and a half hours. If going from Wheeling to Beckley, budget four and a half hours. These distances contribute to problems the state faces.
I’ve probably left a few places of note out, but hopefully this gives people a better understanding of how things are in dub-vee.