BREAKING:  MSNBC calling WV for Hillary Clinton, and exit-polls are showing a two to one victory.  Which, as Russert just told me on my teevee, means she gets 19-ish delegates, and Obama gets 9-ish delegates, given that split. 

____________________ 

WV primary day. Yeah baby, feel the power, the beauty...the rube-ery?

Occupying a swathe of the Appalachian Mountains on the threshold between the Bible Belt and the Rust Belt, West Virginia is a swing state that voted twice for George W. Bush but backed Democrats in six of the eight prior presidential elections.

No Democrat has been elected to the White House without carrying West Virginia since 1916, yet Mr Obama appears to have little chance of winning there in November. Recent opinion polls indicate that Mrs Clinton would narrowly beat Mr McCain in the state but Mr Obama would lose by nearly 20 percentage points.

West Virginia is hostile territory for Mr Obama because it has few of the African-Americans and affluent, college-educated whites who provide his strongest support. The state has the lowest college graduation rate in the US, the second lowest median household income, and one of the highest proportions of white residents, at 96 per cent.

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”.

You fly all the way the hell over to the US, and into what I presume was Charleston, WV, since that's the biggest airport in the area. You rent a car at the airport and then take the time to drive through our lovely capital city, and then down through the gorgeous spring mountain scenery to drag your ass to the very tip of WV on the KY border in Mingo County, and you seek out the biggest rube you can find to interview? Dear Financial Times reporter: bite me. And while you're at it, bite this:

"I see the big cities as going to Obama, but the working class people in the rural areas are for Hillary," she said. "I think that's because we're struggling more than they are."...

She also said she would support Obama in November if it came to that.

"I like McCain as a person, but he has too many views that take the same line as George W. Bush," White said.

Gary Johngrass of Hamlin estimates that his fellow veterans are split on the presidential race. The 57-year-old served in the Air Force in Vietnam, and counts himself among the half from that and latter conflicts who support Clinton. The other half are older veterans who support McCain.

But if Obama wins the nomination, Johngrass plans to vote for the Democrat and expects most veterans in the Clinton camp to follow suit.

"I like McCain as a senator, but I think it would be another George Bush for four or eight years," Johngrass said....

The excitement is showing at the ballot box as well. Even before the final day of early voting Saturday, Secretary of State Betty Ireland reported that a record 49,892 West Virginians had cast ballots.

And then read this. Hmmmm...fed up with Bush and see McCain as more of the same, willing to vote for Obama despite being white, rural and poor? Just who is casting the stereotyping aspersions? Also, read this:

Dwayne Williams, a 28-year-old Marshall University graduate student, said Clinton's presence has been good for the electorate.

"I'm hoping something can be resolved pretty soon, but I'm excited about what's going on in both campaigns," said Williams, another Obama supporter. "Both are bringing in more young people. There's a lot of talk about politics on campus, and that's a drastic change."

ZOMG! We have universities in the hinterlands! With thoughtful students, even. Having spent the day perusing the various cable network fodder on WV primary coverage, I'd appreciate it if in future media people would try not to just seek out someone who fits their Gomer Pyle stereotype to interview. You know what WV has? A whole lot of hard-working, blue collar types that make up the backbone of the Democratic party -- people who pay their bills, save for a nice family vacation, hope for something better for their own kids, and don't truck with elitist bullshit from people who bus in every four years expecting a scene from the Beverly Hillbillies to conveniently walk in front of their cameras.

Independent, complex thought -- it's not just for "people like me."

NOTE: For voting irregularities or problems, call the WV secretary of state hotline: (877) FRAUD-WV. To file a complaint, visit www.wvsos.com/elections/voters/voterhelp.htm and fill out the provided form. Or call your local county clerk's office.