How did Bush win West Virginia

It's pretty simple really... West Virginia is a rural state. It's 95% white. It's by and large a church-goin' state, and per capita, it has more sons and daughters in the military than just about any other state. I don't know if its the absolute top, but rest assured, there are a lot soldiers over in Iraq that call WV home.

Now... considering all that, you'd think West Virginia would be about as close as Wyoming. Unfortunately you'd need to remember that 40% of the population is on sometype of government income, be it SSI, Workman's Comp, or plain old Well Fare.

The democrats have controlled this state for 70 years, and they've worked hard to create a group a farm crop of "D" voters who's income depends on having D's in office. They're crops, and every so often, at election time, they are harvested.

In state and local politics, Dems normally kill. 2 out of ever 3 voters are registered Democrats.

So in the end... it's pretty predictable. This is a state church goin' white folks with strong military ties. This was seen as a war time election. The outcome was determined long ago.

Local democrats disassociate themselves with National Party Politics alot. They make their living off "head-in-the-sand" conservatives who pull the D lever because they've always pulled the D lever. Split tickets in WV were the norm, as they were 4 years ago...

R for president. D for everything else.