BARACK OBAMA CONCEDES SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA

Trip to Roanoke cancelled- Barack Obama will not appear in Southwest Virginia this primary season.

Is this because his health care plan leaves so many Southwest Virginia residents without health care?

For Hillary to win a single Congressional District in Virginia on Tuesday would be a HUGE upset- and it appears Obama is already conceding one and maybe two Congressional Districts!!!

Developing...

Comments

Barack hasn't sent any surrogates either. Bill Clinton has been marching up and down Southwest Virginia, and I fully expect Hillary to cream Barack in the 9th come Tuesday evening.

[Johnny Longtorso]

So he's ceding the white, rural, poor, less-educated part of Virginia to the candidate who does well with white, rural, poor, less-educated voters. Stop the presses.

[Interested Observer]

Clinton Campaign Enters Last 36 Hours

When John McCain wins the Potomac Primary tomorrow and becomes the presumptive Republican nominee, the Hillary Clinton campaign will implode. I wouldn't be surprised to see them jettison their senior staff after getting swept five in a row since Super Tuesday. Democrats are not going to want a Hillary vs. McCain match-up as the media would portray it.

There is only one Democrat smart enough, organized enough, tough enough and proven enough to take on John McCain- that is Barack Hussein Obama.

[Aimee]

Hillary has canceled her trip to Roanoke as well. There have been fires and high winds and I-81 was closed today. That may be part of it.

HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!

For Clinton to win 1 congressional district would be a huge upset...now that is setting expectations low!!!

Is her campaign really floundering THAT much???

[Sam]

IO,

As NoVa moderate said in another thread, you're on a roll... PLEASE keep it up... your mockery of Ben just puts a huge smile on my face.

[Sam]

And Ben... um... everything I've been following says Hillary's gonna' win at least three districts... so... how, exactly, is 1 district an upset?

[John Smith]

Wait ... you mean that fires and winds kept Hillary out??

This couldn't be the reason Obama isn't going. No, no - it's because he's conceded southwest Virginia. That's it!

Brilliant Analysis.

[PM]

Political junkies -- just saw this on You Tube -- the run up to the filming of Nixon's resignation. He seemed in a pretty good mood for what he was about to do.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=4_mRNTW4sjc

[Tatum]

Obama and Hillary were on 60 Minutes. He said "no one's saying either 'McCain or Hillary'". He's wrong! I've heard people saying that for months.

I will have to say, however. He can write a kickass poem!

[Not Larry Sabato]

Oh yeah- all of Roanoke is on fire, and I-81 is shut down so only Bill Clinton can do events.

What. Ever.

[SaveCountryside]

Governor declares state of emergency:

http://www.wdbj7.com/

At least Bill Clinton is acting as a surrogate for Hillary's campaign. As far as I know, Barack hasn't sent a single surrogate to come address folks in Southwest Virginia.

Shame on Senator Obama

[Duke]

18,000 rallied for Obama in VaBeach tonight. Just sayin.

[Interested Observer]

Hillary and Barack: Please Shut Up

This racism controversy (on both sides) is pathetic and absurd. We have two decent candidates, I am supporting Obama because Edwards is out and I like the message of change and I worry about Hillary in a debate against John McCain, but I could easily support her if she wins the nomination. I think most Hillary supporters could easily support Barack if he wins. There is no good reason for this racism crap and I think it is hurting both candidates. Please- everyone- shut up and move on.

[Not Larry Sabato]

IO, I totally agree with your last comment.

[HokieAnnie]

Ben, Ben, Ben -- uh Red Flag Warning???? State of Emergency. Snark all you want about the election but it's insensitive to be making political hay over natural disasters. Shame on you.

[Stonewall Brigade]

Let's see. Clinton just replaced her campaign manager and lost 4 contest in a row this weekend and polling shows her losing BIG on Tuesday, I dont think Obama is too worried about SWVA.

[Interested Observer]

NLS - I figured you would....I'm just warming up.

Pretty soon I'll have to ban you and turn this web page into "The Official Transition Page for President Obama and Congressman Connolly."

[Tatum]

Yo Interested Observer. I would not support Obama if Hillary does not get the nomination. Running the Harvard Law Reveiew does not prepare someone to run a superpower. He is far too green. A President Obama would be a disaster for the nation and the party.

JFK was far more experienced and his administration started with Bay of Pigs and the Cuban Missile Crisis. The world is much more dangerous now.

Obama is not ready for this job! Anyone who does not see that does not understand the difficulty and complexity of the job.

[KC]

Oh Ben, you're full of you know what:

"Senator Obama will not be in Lynchburg and the event in Roanoke Monday morning has been cancelled due to weather. We sincerely apologize to our viewers for the confusion."
http://www.wset.com/news/stories/0208/495046.html?021008

Ben...you know what a huge upset would be? Obama winning Maine when Hillary was a shoe-in there. Oh wait, that happened today. How about that.

io,
I do not know why you can not see that it is fair to bring up racism. Particularly when you have on candidate getting 80% of a racial group.

It is a fair point of debate, and will continue to be so throughout this race.

[JM-ILF]

Listen, I know the choice between Hillary and Obama is a hard one that stirs up a lot of emotions. At the JJ dinner last night, I realized that the bigger dilemma is choosing who’s hotter: Delegate Jennifer McClellan (http://blog.sorenseninstitute.org/AUGUST/McClellanGovKaine.jpg) or the lead singer from No Speed Limit (http://www.flickr.com/photos/nospeedlimit/24592783/)? Forget "Hot Damn!", I'm thinking "Hot Dems!"

[t]

What a racist post Tatum.

Green people have as much right to run for President as do White people and Black people.

[Interested Observer]

Tatum - First off, I am not sure I see the world as more dangerous now than when the US and Soviets had huge nuclear arsenals pointed at each other on a hair-trigger with the world in the balance, but hey, it is a dangerous place.

Three points:

1. What, exactly, has Hillary "run"? She was married to a governor and President, a corporate lawyer, served on Walmart's Board, ran health care policy in 93/94, and ran for Senate twice in a heavily Democratic state. That stands up ok with a self-made man who paid his way through school, became a professor, spent eight years in the Illinois legislature and a won run-away Senate victory against a carpetbagger from Maryland.

2. Two words - George Bush. Not that we want to talk about that, but they are both more experienced and competent than the current occupant of the White House.

3. Two more words - John McCain. Neither can compare their life to McCain's in terms of being ready on day one. So why not have something a little exciting like being the most inspiring, visionary candidate out there in two generations? One guess who that ISN'T.

[Interested Observer]

Anon 10:22 - you are intentionally misunderstanding everything I say here.

Rather than ban you, let me help you a little:

http://notlarrysabato.typepad.com/doh/2008/01/hillary-and-bar.html#comments

[brimur]

Ben- I'll say it again, it's a little too late for expectations-setting buddy. It's about delegates. Getting 1/3 of the delegates between now and March 4th and then narrowly winning 3 of the remaining 16 races just ain't gonna cut it.

[Cornelius]

Interested Observer is in serious danger of taking over this blog with his wityisms and provocative posts.

He has dominated the discussion with every post.

He must be stopped, or banned from this blog ASAP.

Ben, who should someone write if they want to petition that the Florida and Michigan delegates get seated?

[Grapes]

Anon at 11:04,

Ben is not your research gopher.

IN A SURE SIGN THAT THE CLINTON CAMPAIGN IS GIVING UP ON ALL OF VIRGINIA BILL CLINTON WILL BE APPEARING AT GMU ON MONDAY. http://connect2mason.com/bclinton_to_mason

[Tatum]

Yo Interested Observer.
1-That and serving on the foriegn affairs committee is still far more than running the Harvard Law Review.
2-Geo. Bush having a resume and being incompetent does not mean that having a resume will make one incompentent.
3-Being inspiring and visionary has nothing to do with making sound decisions. They're entirely different skills. Hence my JFK comparison. one JFK aid noted that there was a 50% chance of nuclear war in the U.S. one evening in Oct. 1962. I'll take your advice and support McCain in November. Clinton is still more prepared to handle these issues than Obama.

Ben,

This could well have the opposite effect. The spreading wildfires could very well suppress turnout in Western Virginia, the section of the state where Senator Clinton was expected to run strongest.

[motbob]

My god -- if "winning a congressional district" is your idea of an equivalent to a major victory, then I'm really looking forward to your spin on Tuesday night. I'm sure it will be nothing short of spectacular.

[The Dude (or Duder or His Dudeness)]

Perhaps I sound like some grump who rambles on about why doesn't MTV show videos anymore, but ...

Where's the analysis, Ben? Here we have a competitive presidential primary in Virginia, and this blog flat-out sucks. Bring back NLS, circa 2005.

To Tatum

Barack Obama is on the Committee on Foreign Relations. Clinton is not.

[Chocolate Chip Cookie]

The last person who had no experience and a high likeabilty factor was George W. Bush.

[Tammy]

Given the dangerous situation in SW Virginia right now, the last thing law enforcement needs is either candidate (or their surrogates) taking manpower away from dealing with the situation. I applaud both H. Clinton and B. Obama for having the good sense to get out of the way. Too bad McCain, Huckabee and B. Clinton (as of this writing) don't have the same sense.

BTW, did anyone else smell that stench in the air in Chesterfield last night? It was coming from Swift Creek Baptist Church, I believe.

LMAO! Now Ben is setting expectations so ridiculously low to keep himself from looking like a total douchebag.

Sorry, loser -- that's what you are these days.

Douche. Bag.

[Interested Observer]

Tatum - I explicitly referred to the current President who has no resume to speak of and got where he is because he is related to someone who does have a resume.

Nevertheless, both Barack and Hillary are considerably more experienced in government than he is.

FYI, Hillary is on the Armed Services Committee, not Foreign Relations, that would be Obama. Call that a draw, if you will.

I'm not too sure Kennedy had any more experience than either of these guys. He was in the House for a few years and then a freshman senator from Massachussets, wasn't he? I don't see that as any better than Hillary or Barack's experience.

Ben, after five straight victories I hardly think the Obama campaign is conceding anything. And Tuesday night that will be up to eight straight victories for Obama.

As far as the Ninth CD goes, the most likely outcome will be a 2-2 split in delegates. Statewide, it doesn't appear it is going to be pretty for Clinton.

[Not Ben]

From this morning's Roanoke Times:

"Sunday's high winds snuffed out the hopes of thousands in the area after Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama canceled campaign rallies.

Clinton was forced to abandon an event at Patrick Henry High School in Roanoke where thousands of supporters were anxiously waiting after the wind grounded her plane and a brush fire blocked Interstate 81."

[Dan]

IO, you are right about Kennedy's lack of significant Congressional experience. In the 14 years he spent in both the House and Senate he floor managed only one bill. And he botched that one. That didn't keep him from being a great President.

[Henry Ryto]

If Ben wants to talk of conceding something, maybe he should bring up the Clintons and the 2nd CD. Neither has been here or plans to.

On the other hand, Obama was here in Virginia Beach last night, drawing 18,000.

A Mason-Dixon poll posted on VBDems.org has Obama winning the 2nd by over 2:1. Spin that, Ben. :)

[Tatum]

"W" was the governor of one of the largest states in the union. That definately qualifies as executive experience.

You're right about the committees. Obama's Foreign Relations, Hillary's on Armed Services.

JFK was in the House from 47 to 53 and in the Senate from 53 to 61. It looks like he did have a little more experience than both Hillary and Obama.

You talked me into it. I'll vote for Hillary tomorrow and send a donation to McCain today. And, of course, support McCain in the fall.

He's the sensible choice.

[Bubba]

In fairness to the folks out here working on the fire lines, power lines, and removing trees, and the thousands upon thousands of families that still don't have power, I think taste and a sense of Virginia decency would lead one to change the title line of this post.

That's just me though. I know we would do the same for you in NoVa if heaven forbid Starbucks ran out of coffee and every TGIF and Ruby Tuesday up there ran out of flair.

Ben...if you had any decency as a blogger, you would have corrected this posting by now because it's clear that the weather caused cancellations for both Obama and Hillary.

But that's right, you're entitled to your own set of facts and don't care about the truth. That's so old school, that's so the politics of another era that's slowly dying.

[JF]

Tatus is right having a great resume is no gaurantee that you will make great decisions. However having a great resume and a track record of making great decisions such as, being against Iraq before we went in, is a good indicator.

LOL! Hillary canceled a campaign event in Roanoke too!

http://thepage.time.com/2008/02/11/weather-chills-potomac-primary-campaigning/

I await your breathless "Hillary concedes SW Virginia!" post.

[Church Hill Dem]

I can't help but sense a bit of elitism from the Hillary camp, and how it implies that southwest Virginia dems are poor folks who are focused solely on healthcare issues and don't have a broader political perspective.

Sensing this reminds me why I've voting for Obama tomorrow.

[Brian Kirwin]

Folks, why do y'all fall for this over and over.

Ben doesn't really believe this. He posts stuff so everyone can leave comments arguing about it.

HEADLINE:

HILLARY CLINTON CANCELS ROANOKE EVENT

http://www.collegiatetimes.com/stories/2008/02/10/hillary_clinton_cancels_roanoke_rally

HEADLINE:

WIND CANCELS CLINTON RALLY

http://www.wsls.com/sls/news/local/article/wind_cancels_clinton_rally/5406/

HEADLINE:

EAGER FANS OF SENATOR CLINTON SEE THEIR HOPES BLOWN AWAY

http://www.roanoke.com/news/roanoke/wb/150359

[RichmondDem (Not J.C.)]

Obama seems to do well in rural areas, and I bet he'll do just fine when the results come in from Southwest.

Brian K. -- I guess people like poking at the corpse of what was once a respectable blog.

[Tatum]

Yo JF. A state legislator making a statement in a speech does not constitute a "track record".

Barack Obama campaigned in Alexandria today, on the Virginia side of the Potomac, before heading south to Virginia Beach. He will try the same Roanoke-to-Maryland route Clinton tried today, with a stop in Roanoke planned before a rally tomorrow night in College Park.

io said

"Anon 10:22 - you are intentionally misunderstanding everything I say here.

Rather than ban you, let me help you a little:"

Is io and nls the same person? If not who gave io any authority to decide who can get banned on this blog?

I suppose since he can read minds he should be able to also ban those who disagree with him.

People who only want to hear what they believe, are sure to stay ignorant.

[Truth teller]

Obama made a tactical decision--he is not going to win Southwest Virginia because they are prejudiced and still listen to the "Guns and God" Argument--do you think John McCain is going to visit??? Why waste time and resources for either--McCain knows no matter what he does he will win that region. Southwest Virginians have wrote themselves out of elections because they only vote Republican. If you do that long enough the other party no longer tries to "court" you and then the party that you have been voting for no longer listens to you. You become marginalized. ---Then you wonder why your towns are decaying from the inside out and jobs are lost. In order to be heard you have to be a "swing voter". Why do you think the Jewish community gets more presidential candidate visits than small town Americans?????

[Truth teller]

Following up my prior comment--I understand Obama made the "Bitter" comment and I would be offended by it if I lived in Southwest Virginia (which by the way I was born and raised in Wise County Virginia), however I think also as disturbing was Dick Cheney's "I don't have to worry about getting re-elected--so I am going to trash W.VA comment". First--if you think Washington doesn't think that Southwest Virginia is the same as W. VA then you are kidding yourself, and second--that insults me more because their is the innuendo that he (and that party) is and has been using small town voters and once they have no need for them--then they are a joke. I have to admit I would probably vote for Obama today--I think it is only fair to post that on this blog.