# Texas Federal Prisoner gets 40% of vote in WV Dem Primary **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [May 9, 2012, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-federal-prisoner-gets-40-of-vote-in-wv-dem-primary/621387 "2012-05-09T13:22:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2012, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-federal-prisoner-gets-40-of-vote-in-wv-dem-primary/621387/41 "2012-05-11T23:16:19Z")
> [@spooje](#): > > If not, doesn’t a person who tries to get on the ballot in a state have to have _lived_ **in** the state for a certain period of time directly before getting on said ballot? I doubt that’s the case in any state for _presidential_ primaries. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2012, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-federal-prisoner-gets-40-of-vote-in-wv-dem-primary/621387/42 "2012-05-12T00:36:36Z")
Look, can anyone be in doubt here? They didn’t vote for a convict, probably didn’t even know that; they’re red-state Dems, they voted for the only Not-Obama on the ballot. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2012, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-federal-prisoner-gets-40-of-vote-in-wv-dem-primary/621387/43 "2012-05-12T17:04:46Z")
No, wait, _that’s_ what Obama was hiding on his birth certificate! He wasn’t born in Kenya, he was born in _West Virginia_. No wonder he’s ashamed of it. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2012, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-federal-prisoner-gets-40-of-vote-in-wv-dem-primary/621387/44 "2012-05-12T18:02:25Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Look, can anyone be in doubt here? They didn’t vote for a convict, probably didn’t even know that; they’re red-state Dems, they voted for the only Not-Obama on the ballot. Right. Heck, in the 2010 Senate election, (D)-then-governor Mancin ran successfully by campaigning hard \*\*\*against \*\*\*most of the Obama platform, specially emphasizing his divergence with the Prez on Obamacare, energy and guns. And that was facing a GOP opponent who did not even really live in the state and was caught casting campaign ads based on insulting clichés about WV. WV Dems are _ **very** _ old-school. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2012, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-federal-prisoner-gets-40-of-vote-in-wv-dem-primary/621387/45 "2012-05-13T05:50:49Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > Right. Heck, in the 2010 Senate election, (D)-then-governor Mancin ran successfully by campaigning hard \*\*\*against \*\*\*most of the Obama platform, specially emphasizing his divergence with the Prez on Obamacare, energy and guns. And that was facing a GOP opponent who did not even really live in the state and was caught casting campaign ads based on insulting clichés about WV. > > WV Dems are _ **very** _ old-school. The encouraging thing, then, is that **only** 40% of them despised Obama enough to vote for the unknown name. ---
**Author:** ![New\_Deal\_Democrat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/9d8465/32.png) [@New\_Deal\_Democrat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/New_Deal_Democrat)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2012, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-federal-prisoner-gets-40-of-vote-in-wv-dem-primary/621387/46 "2012-05-13T13:14:13Z")
> [@CandidGamera](#): > > Given how racist, ignorant and backward this state can be? I’m pretty pleased with those numbers for Obama. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![ScarletNumber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c0e974/32.png) [@ScarletNumber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ScarletNumber)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2012, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-federal-prisoner-gets-40-of-vote-in-wv-dem-primary/621387/47 "2012-07-16T13:58:42Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > I guess what gets me is how conservatives are cackling about this, as if it says something about Obama. > > No: **it says something about conservatives**. When your compatriots\* are willing to vote for a total stranger (who turns out to be a federal prisoner) instead of voting for Obama, they’ve left the deep end and are swimming over the Marianas Trench. > > You shouldn’t be saying, “See, Obama’s such a weak candidate that people will vote for a federal prisoner over him!” You should be saying, “Good Lord, the people who agree with me are so ignorant that they’ll vote for a federal prisoner over Obama!” > > The takeaway from this isn’t that Obama’s weak in West Virginia: we already knew that. The takeaway is that the sort of aggressive, spiteful ignorance that has commandeered the Republican party over the last decade is reaching is insidious tendrils into the West Virginia Democratic party as well. > > - Yes, Republicans: West Virginia Democrats are your compatriots. I think it says more about Obama than it does about the voters. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2012, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-federal-prisoner-gets-40-of-vote-in-wv-dem-primary/621387/48 "2012-07-16T14:15:49Z")
> [@ScarletNumber](#): > > I think it says more about Obama than it does about the voters. Thanks for sharing! ---
**Author:** ![lance\_strongarm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/87869e/32.png) [@lance\_strongarm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lance_strongarm)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2012, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-federal-prisoner-gets-40-of-vote-in-wv-dem-primary/621387/49 "2012-07-16T14:21:04Z")
> [@jtgain](#): > > Yep..Obama is so unpopular in WV that he only wins 60-40 against a man currently in federal prison. Bullshit. Obama had no real opposition so the pro-Obama voters didn’t bother to vote. And most people understand that (perhaps even you). ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2012, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-federal-prisoner-gets-40-of-vote-in-wv-dem-primary/621387/50 "2012-07-16T14:33:04Z")
> [@ScarletNumber](#): > > I think it says more about Obama than it does about the voters. And you base that on what? ---
**Author:** ![ScarletNumber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c0e974/32.png) [@ScarletNumber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ScarletNumber)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2012, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-federal-prisoner-gets-40-of-vote-in-wv-dem-primary/621387/51 "2012-07-16T15:20:45Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Thanks for sharing! You’re welcome. > [@BrainGlutton](#): > > And you base that on what? Some people think Obama is a lousy president and doesn’t deserve reelection. I don’t see why that is so terrible. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2012, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-federal-prisoner-gets-40-of-vote-in-wv-dem-primary/621387/52 "2012-07-16T15:24:05Z")
> [@ScarletNumber](#): > > Some people think Obama is a lousy president and doesn’t deserve reelection. I don’t see why that is so terrible. Well I sure do, as exemplified by my post that said NOTHING OF THE SORT. The question isn’t whether people think Obama is a lousy president. The question is whether people think a federal prisoner in Texas would be a better president. Are you gonna make the claim that: a) some folks genuinely think that, and they’re not a bunch of stupid assholes? or b) some folks don’t really think that, but they didn’t bother to find out who they were voting for, and they’re not a bunch of stupid assholes? or c) something totally unrelated to the thread? ---
**Author:** ![lance\_strongarm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/87869e/32.png) [@lance\_strongarm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lance_strongarm)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2012, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-federal-prisoner-gets-40-of-vote-in-wv-dem-primary/621387/53 "2012-07-16T15:43:10Z")
> [@Typo\_Negative](#): > > OK, help me out with something. > > How an inmate get get on the ballot? He has been incarcerated in Texas for more than a decade. Doesn’t that make him a resident of Texas? If not, doesn’t a person who tries to get on the ballot in a state have to have _lived_ **in** the state for a certain period of time directly before getting on said ballot? > > Could I, as California resident, have gotten the ballot in WV? Yes. Most presidential candidates try to get on the ballot in all 50 states. ---
**Author:** ![ScarletNumber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c0e974/32.png) [@ScarletNumber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ScarletNumber)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2012, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-federal-prisoner-gets-40-of-vote-in-wv-dem-primary/621387/54 "2012-07-16T17:35:09Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Well I sure do, as exemplified by my post that said NOTHING OF THE SORT. > > The question isn’t whether people think Obama is a lousy president. The question is whether people think a federal prisoner in Texas would be a better president. Are you gonna make the claim that: > a) some folks genuinely think that, and they’re not a bunch of stupid assholes? or > b) some folks don’t really think that, but they didn’t bother to find out who they were voting for, and they’re not a bunch of stupid assholes? or > c) something totally unrelated to the thread? b) ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2012, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-federal-prisoner-gets-40-of-vote-in-wv-dem-primary/621387/55 "2012-07-16T21:05:15Z")
> [@ScarletNumber](#): > > b) Okay, fine, make it. ---
**Author:** ![ScarletNumber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c0e974/32.png) [@ScarletNumber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ScarletNumber)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2012, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-federal-prisoner-gets-40-of-vote-in-wv-dem-primary/621387/56 "2012-07-16T21:45:00Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Okay, fine, make it. As I stated earlier, they didn’t want to reelect Obama. So they voted for someone else. This isn’t a difficult concept. ---
**Author:** ![Algorithm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/algorithm/32/12204_2.png) [@Algorithm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Algorithm)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2012, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-federal-prisoner-gets-40-of-vote-in-wv-dem-primary/621387/57 "2012-07-17T01:21:25Z")
> [@ScarletNumber](#): > > As I stated earlier, they didn’t want to reelect Obama. So they voted for someone else. > > This isn’t a difficult concept. And what does that say about Obama? ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2012, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-federal-prisoner-gets-40-of-vote-in-wv-dem-primary/621387/58 "2012-07-17T02:19:45Z")
Let’s not pretend this had anything to do with either Obama or being in federal prison. West Virginia voters rewarded Judd for rocking the most kickass ponytail imaginable, as damn well they should. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2012, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-federal-prisoner-gets-40-of-vote-in-wv-dem-primary/621387/59 "2012-07-17T02:56:28Z")
> [@ScarletNumber](#): > > As I stated earlier, they didn’t want to reelect Obama. So they voted for someone else. > > This isn’t a difficult concept. Yeah, see, in light of the “they voted for a federal prisoner over Obama without bothering to find out who they were voting for,” you need to justify your “but they’re not stupid assholes” claim. Shit, that coulda been Kang or Kodos. Or you could just keep making the claim without any justification, in which case, hey, wanna know what my cat’s breath smells like? ---
**Author:** ![CandidGamera](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/candidgamera/32/2878_2.png) [@CandidGamera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CandidGamera)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2012, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-federal-prisoner-gets-40-of-vote-in-wv-dem-primary/621387/60 "2012-07-17T13:22:22Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Yeah, see, in light of the “they voted for a federal prisoner over Obama without bothering to find out who they were voting for,” you need to justify your “but they’re not stupid assholes” claim. Speaking as a West Virginian, don’t hold your breath on that happening. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-federal-prisoner-gets-40-of-vote-in-wv-dem-primary/621387.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-federal-prisoner-gets-40-of-vote-in-wv-dem-primary/621387.md?page=4)