THE WEST VIRGINIA FILE THE WEST VIRGINIA FILE • Population: 1.8 million

• Population by race: White, 94.6%; black, 3.1%; Asian, 0.5%; Hispanic, 0.7%; other, 1.1%.

• Blue-collar workers: 28.7%.

• Registered voters: Democrat, 57.1%; Republican, 30.2%; other, 12.8%.

• 2004 presidential vote: George W. Bush, 56%; John Kerry, 43%; Ralph Nader, 1%.



Note: Numbers don't add to 100% because of rounding.



Source: Almanac of American Politics Enlarge By Jeff Gentner for USA TODAY West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin discusses the upcoming West Virginia Democratic primary Tuesday in his office at the Capitol in Charleston, W.Va. CLOSE-UP: BARACK OBAMA CLOSE-UP: BARACK OBAMA In-depth: Latest Obama news, video, photos, timeline, more ... Barack Obama on the campaign issues: Iraq | Immigration | Health care | Education | Abortion | Gay civil rights CLOSE-UP: HILLARY CLINTON CLOSE-UP: HILLARY CLINTON In-depth: Clinton news, videos, photos, timeline, more ... Hillary Clinton on the campaign issues: Iraq | Immigration | Health care | Education | Abortion | Gay civil rights WAYNE, W.Va.  The location of Democrat Barack Obama's just-opened headquarters here says a lot about the challenges facing him and this community as voters prepare to go to the polls in Tuesday's primary. His office is across from the courthouse and next to a thrift shop. The torn awning over its door indicates the storefront used to be a restaurant. Though the bell tower atop the courthouse gleams with a fresh coat of paint — the state colors of blue and gold — the rest of the town has the faded look of a community that has seen better days. Many Wayne residents used to make good money in nearby Huntington, about 20 miles north. But the factories making glass and auto parts and the chemical supply plants where people used to work "have gone on the skids in recent years," says Wayne County Clerk Bob Pasley. In West Virginia, Gov. Joe Manchin says "you drive to survive" and the gas price spike has hit particularly hard. "It's hard to drive from here to Huntington when gas is $4 a gallon and you're getting paid minimum wage," says Wayne Mayor Junior Ramey. This state of small towns is home to the gun-owning, church-going, financially struggling voters whom Hillary Rodham Clinton is targeting Tuesday. She says Obama alienated them with his remark before the Pennsylvania primary last month about "bitter" dislocated workers in small towns "clinging" to guns and religion. Democrats outnumber Republicans nearly 2 to 1, but President Bush won here in 2000 and 2004. "It was because of three things: guns, God and abortion," says Danny Jones, the Republican mayor of Charleston, the state capital. "The people in the last election were persuaded by the gun issue," said Robert Dennie, a retired Union Carbide employee, a Democrat who cast an early vote Tuesday for Clinton in Charleston. "Everybody has wised up." Though Obama is ahead nationally in delegates and the popular vote, Clinton has a huge lead in statewide polls here. Local politicians say it will take more than a well-decorated storefront for Obama, the Illinois senator, to make headway. "He's going to have to visit," says Bob Pasley, who adds that Obama should come prepared to answer "tough questions," including some about his religion. "Is he Islamic or is he not?" Pasley says of Obama, who is Christian. "I know he's tried to talk about it but he hasn't looked anybody in Wayne in the eye and told them." Demanding that a presidential entourage make it up the tricky switchback roads that lead to this town of 1,144 isn't as farfetched as it seems. No Democrat has won the White House without winning West Virginia since 1916, and at least one made it to Wayne. "Jack Kennedy was a Catholic, and there were skeptics about that," says Pasley, who was 7 years old when the future president showed up to campaign in 1960. "It was the biggest thing that happened in Wayne in a long, long time," Pasley recalled. Kennedy's trip made an impression elsewhere in the state. At Jim's Steak and Spaghetti House in Huntington, a brass plaque stating "President Kennedy sat here" marks a booth that, according to owner Jimmie Carder, some customers will wait 45 minutes to get. Most Democrats who succeed here politically here are conservative. State Auditor Glen Gainer, one of Obama's leading backers in the state, keeps a framed copy of his endorsement from abortion opponents West Virginians for Life on his wall and an autographed copy of the late minister Jerry Falwell's biography on his coffee table. Manchin complains the state's most important economic resource — coal — doesn't get enough attention from the party because environmentalists consider the industry as too polluting. Ethanol, the corn-based gasoline additive that gets presidential candidates' praise in Iowa, has gotten a disproportionate share of federal subsidies while research on technology to make coal burn more cleanly is chronically underfunded, Manchin says. At the moment, West Virginia appears to be Clinton country, especially the southern half of the state. "She'll win our county with 75% or 80%," says Ramey, a Clinton backer. "Maybe more." Even Obama's supporters in the state acknowledge that West Virginia could prove to be a speed bump for their surging candidate. "It is an uphill struggle for Sen. Obama, that's for sure," says local congressman Nick Rahall, who was booed at a Wayne Democratic pig roast after he endorsed Obama. "It was unreal," says Ramey, who was there. "There have been respectful disagreements," says Rahall. Politicians on both sides of the presidential primary fight say Clinton's healthy double-digit lead is due in part to the overt appeal she's making to blue-collar voters and in part to nostalgia for her husband's administration. "How can you not like Bill Clinton? He's a good old boy," says Obama backer Gainer. Hillary Clinton held rallies in Shepherdstown and Charleston this week. Her husband has his own busy campaign schedule, including a stop at Wayne High School today. Obama's schedule is less certain. Gainer says Obama needs to campaign here even if he won't win Tuesday. "He needs to invest for the fall," he said. For all of Clinton's advantages, however, she's picked up only a few major endorsements here. Manchin and Sen. Robert Byrd, both superdelegates, are remaining neutral. Obama is also backed by Sen. Jay Rockefeller and Beckley Mayor Emmett Pugh. Another factor could help Obama: For the first time Democrats are allowing the state's estimated 156,000 registered independents to vote in their primary. Mark McMillian, a Charleston attorney who is a registered independent, voted early for Obama on Tuesday. He said it was "a hard decision" between the two Democrats, but added that he believes either can win West Virginia in the fall. "I just think people are at the breaking point," he said. Enlarge By Jeff Gentner, for USA TODAY A volunteer works the phones Tuesday at the Hillary Clinton's West Virginia presidential campaign headquarters in Charleston. A display asks for a "Mother's Day pledge." Sen. Barack Obama's Democratic campaign headquarters in downtown Charleston, W.Va., include a hand-drawn banner and a sizable Obama poster.



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