As he spoke in Boston on Wednesday night, vice presidential hopeful John Edwards’ words were ringing through Bob Anderson’s living room here.
Some two dozen Mountaineer State Democrats gathered to watch Edwards’ speech on television. Many came away convinced that Edwards will be a key factor in wooing conservative Democrats who in 2000 turned to the GOP and helped George Bush win West Virginia.
“People like him because he comes across so well,” Anderson, 56, a researcher at the University of West Virginia, said of Edwards. “He appeals to the common man. He understands there are haves and have-nots, and this is a state of have-nots.”
Al Gore miscalculated in West Virginia in 2000. Party faithful admit that he took it for granted and was surprised when Bush grabbed the highly Democratic state’s five electoral votes. Had Gore won the traditional Democratic stronghold, as all but two Democratic candidates have since 1929, he would be president today.
This time, West Virginia is again one of 17 battleground states considered too close to call. Though solidly Democratic, the state is generally conservative and tends more toward President Bush and the Republicans on social issues such as abortion, same-sex marriage and gun control.
Enter Edwards, first-term senator from North Carolina, whose trial lawyer baritone was honed in Southern courtrooms.
Ignoring Edwards’ stature as a wealthy attorney, Democrats who watched his speech Wednesday night in Morgantown said they shared an affinity with him because of Edwards’ working-class heritage and his legal fights for the little guys against big business.
“He really comes from where people here come from: his father worked in a mill and his mother was a postal worker,” said Bill Weiss, 64, a retired system analyst at the University of West Virginia. “People here can relate to that.”
In detailing John Kerry’s war record, Edwards appealed to patriotism, a crucial point in West Virginia, which has a large number of residents serving in the military.
In calling for “a politics of hope,” Edwards embodied Kerry’s promise of more jobs–important in this state that ranks 48th out of 50 in per capita income. West Virginia has lost about 23,500 jobs since Bush took office.
Democrats also are hoping Edwards will be the answer to Hollywood’s Charlton Heston, the National Rifle Association leader who in 2000 helped swing West Virginia voters toward Bush on the gun control issue.
“Last time, Charlton Heston came in here and told people if they don’t vote for Bush they will lose all their guns,” said Ron St. Clair, 62, a retired coal miner. “That was all it took. But this time that is not an issue, and a guy like Edwards will be listened to.”
Again this year, the Republicans consider West Virginia vital. Bush has visited at least a dozen times since taking office, and both he and Kerry have appeared here four times during the campaign season.
Bush supporters say West Virginia voters will not be fooled by Edwards’ charm and words.
“He made money the way conservatives don’t like to see it made — as a trial lawyer who gained off the back of tobacco companies,” said Dorcas Harbert, who heads the Republican committee in this region. “He is just inexperienced politically. We will see how he holds up through all this come November.”
On Saturday, Edwards and Kerry are scheduled to travel to Wheeling, W.Va., for a riverfront rally, signaling anew the importance of this state.
Anderson, who said he will be among those at the rally, praised Edwards as “a great speaker” and added: “I can’t wait to see him with Kerry.”
