When All Else Fails, Wear the Pin

What does Barack Obama do when he realizes he will lose WV by a landslide?

He wears a lapel pin with an American flag while delivering a speech on veterans.

I guess Obama knows he has an Appalachia problem. Let us review the polls:

Suffolk University, West Virginia Democratic Primary
May 10-11, 2008
600 Likely Democratic Primary Voters
Margin of Error, +/- 4.0%

Clinton 60
Obama 24

Survey USA, Kentucky Democratic Primary
May 9-11, 2008
641 Likely Democratic Primary Voters
Margin of Error, +/- 3.8%

Clinton 62
Obama 30

And let us review some articles:

Financial Times

Josh Fry, a 24-year-old ambulance driver from Williamson, insisted he was not racist but said he would feel more comfortable with Mr McCain, the 71-year-old Vietnam war hero, in the White House. “I want someone who is a full-blooded American as president,” he said.

A visit to Mingo County, a Democratic stronghold in the heart of the Appalachian coalfields, reveals the scale of Mr Obama’s challenge – not only in West Virginia but in white, working-class communities across the US. With a gun shop on its main street and churches dotted throughout the town, Williamson is the kind of community evoked by Mr Obama’s controversial comments last month about “bitter” small-town voters who “cling to guns or religion”.

“If he is the nominee, the Democrats have no chance of winning West Virginia,” said Missy Endicott, a 40- year-old school administrator. “He doesn’t understand ordinary Americans.”

CBS News

And perhaps most daunting for Obama, not all of the concerns comes from expected quarters. Some Democrats who have backed Clinton in the primaries may very well give the Republicans another look, said Mary Ann Kominar of Kermit, W.Va. – the wife of 14-year state Del. K. Steven Komnar. Both are Clinton supporters.

“I have to support my party. I don’t ever intend to let my party down. But a lot of people are saying ‘McCain looks better every day,’” said Kominar, who lives in Mingo County, W.Va., just across the Kentucky state line.

“I’m opposed to Obama because of his religious beliefs. I believe Rev. [Jeremiah] Wright told me a whole lot,” Kominar said, echoing familiar Republican talking points. “The fact that [Obama] doesn’t pledge allegiance to the flag, he doesn’t wear a flag pin, concern me.”

Obama simply isn’t the right kind of Democrat for the region and would lose in West Virginia just as former party standard-bearers Gore and Kerry did, she said.

“I think over the years they’ve tried to force some very liberal New Englanders down our throat – Obama’s not from New England, but he still fits that mold.”

It will take more than just speeches and costume accessories to convince lunch bucket Democrats that Barack Obama is electable. But Washington, DC, elites and assorted superdelegates will force the empty suit “down our throat[s]” nonetheless. His handlers will even force him to contradict the words he uttered at the beginning of the primary season.

I guess his empty words have failed to be a testament to his patriotism. Indeed, he now must wear the lapel pin in a vain attempt to pander to West Virginia voters. I guess David Axelord’s words really are just words. I guess Obama really is “style” devoid of substance.

Barack Obama: the candidate who will say and do anything in order to become the Democratic nominee.