If you’re getting screwed, just say ‘stop’…in the voting booth

For most of my lifetime, Democrats enjoyed a 2-to-1 advantage over Republicans in voter registration in West Virginia, but their advantage has declined in recent years. As of December 31, 2017, there were 531,363 registered Democrats (43%) and 392,030 registered Republicans (32%), according to the Office of the Secretary of State.

There are also 263,598 independents (21%) and smaller numbers of all other parties including Libertarians and the Mountain Party.

Even though their numbers are down, Democrats still hold an 11-point advantage, which means if every single registered Republican turned out to vote for their own candidates in any given election, it would take only three-fourths of all registered Democrats to neutralize their votes. But to regain control of the state, Democrats must also win over the majority of independents and collect a sizeable share of third-party votes, or at least hope that Republicans don’t get them.

And…they need to stop voting for Republicans, which is what’s been happening since 2010 or so.

I’m talking to the teachers, state policemen and other state employees who apparently aren’t getting the pay raises they want; coal miners whose jobs aren’t really coming back; women who don’t want old white men controlling their bodies; parents who don’t want their children studying the Bible in public school or going to colleges where everybody is carrying guns; and every other West Virginian who isn’t satisfied with a Republican tax cut that might buy a loaf of bread or a gallon of milk every week for a few years while millionaires rake in more and more millions at their expense.

It’s hard to say exactly how or why we got this way, but it happened during the presidency of Barack Obama. I suppose it could have been that trumped up “war on coal” that turned blue voters red, or Obama’s famous “guns and god” quote that pissed people off, or the propaganda machine called Fox News that twisted all of Obama’s quotes into sound bites like “you didn’t build that” when they knew full well what he really meant.

Maybe – just maybe – it was something far worse than all of that, but I’m not going to go there just now. I think you know what I mean.

At any rate, it’s time to wise up, West Virginia, but don’t just take my word for it. Ask yourselves what Republicans have really done for you since they took over both houses of the Legislature and, now, the governor’s mansion – thanks to Jim Justice’s party swapping two-step. What have you really gotten from our Republican U.S. Senator or our three Republican members of the House of Representatives?

How’s your standard of living compared to 2010? What are your prospects for the future? Do you think Jim Justice and his merry band of barkers and hucksters and used car salesmen are going to deliver you what you need? What about your representatives in Congress? Are they likely to protect your Medicaid or your Medicare or your Social Security checks? After all, they tried several times to take your health insurance away. You have to wonder what they’ll try to do next.

There’s an election coming up in November where things can change dramatically if the voters educate themselves on the issues and vote accordingly. Not knowing is not an excuse. It may not seem like it now, but November isn’t that far away. The time to start was yesterday…but it’s not too late today.

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Click here to see a chart showing voter registration data for West Virginia.