The Leonard Lopate Show
States of the Union: West Virginia
West Virginia has been a Democratic stronghold for years, but it voted Republican in 2000 - and without it, Florida would not have mattered and Bush would have lost the election. Will West Virginia go Republican again in 2008? On States of the Union, find out how issues like global warming are dealt with in a major coal-producing state…and why West Virginia has the highest median age in the country (yes, it even beats out Florida). Scott Finn is a reporter at West Virginia Public Broadcasting.
West Virginia Public Broadcasting website
Would your guest say that anti-Semitism, because of Joe Lieberman running with Al Gore, a factor, because in West Virginia voting for Bush in 2000?
I don't think anti-Semitism played any stronger role here than in other states. It did not come up in the 2000 election. I'm not saying it doesn't exist here. But I think if you asked Jewish people in West Virginia, they'd say it's no worse here than anywhere else.
Voters didn't like Al Gore for a lot of reasons -- coal miners feared for their jobs, gun owners bought what Charleston Heston told them in a personal appearance for President Bush, and evangelicals liked what Bush had to say about values. Whether these fears were fair or not is a matter of debate.
Oops. That's Charlton Heston, not Charleston Heston.
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