Published: August 28, 2008 10:19 pm         

Race makes it hard for Obama to win W.Va., delegate says

Take it from a black woman who made political history in West Virginia, race is a major handicap for Barack Obama in his quest to woo enough voters to return the state to its traditional shade of blue.

For the record, whites comprise 94.6 percent of West Virginia’s population while 3.2 are black.

Obama was overwhelmed last May when Democrats handed Hillary Clinton a lopsided triumph over the Illinois senator.

Even so, Delegate Charlene Marshall feels the Democratic presidential nominee can recapture West Virginia for the Democrats after back-to-back victories by George W. Bush if he spends more time here and adopts an old reliable tack of politicians — pressing the flesh in one-on-one talks with voters.

“I think that it would be very hard for him to do,” the Morgantown resident replied when asked if Obama can take the state in the Nov. 4 balloting.

“But I believe this time he will make a better showing than has been predicted. But he really needs to come into West Virginia so that the people get to know him. I think that is just so very, very important.”

Back in 1991, against all odds, Marshall recalled, she won a city council seat in Morgantown, running against four white males.

“And I became the first black woman to be a mayor in West Virginia,” she said in an interview from Denver as the convention headed to the climax of Obama’s outdoor acceptance speech.

Given her status as both black and female, Marshall said, “people thought I must be crazy” to even run.

“I had some wonderful people in Morgantown working for me and with me,” she said.

“And I beat those opponents.”

Marshall was Morgantown’s mayor for seven years, ending in 1998.

“I’m sure that with some people in the state that this (race) will always be a factor,” she said.

“I just believe he (Obama) can change the minds of so many individuals if he makes some visits to West Virginia. He has been here a number of times, but for the most part, it has been in the Charleston area. He needs to expand that visit.”

Other than race, Marshall said she cannot think of any other reason why Obama wouldn’t resonate with West Virginia voters.

“We have so many problems in the state that we need to solve and that’s nationwide,” she said.

“If we would pay attention to what he is saying and what his plans are, if we make comparisons about what has been going on the last eight years, I don’t see that we have any other choice.”

Marshall said West Virginia is populated with “some wonderful individuals” and Obama needs to meet as many as his schedule allows in the final weeks of the campaign.

“Get out and talk to the people,” she advised. “Press the flesh. West Virginia is so important for him. We could make this a blue state.

Marshall was impressed with Obama from the time he delivered a speech four years ago at the Democratic convention in Boston, seeing him then as “such a brilliant young man who had so many opportunities before him ... and yet decided to work for other people.”

Like many Democrats, she was a bit surprised to see Sen. Joe Biden handed the No. 2 slot on the ticket, but welcomed him as one who can complement Obama and answer critics who feel the standard bearer is too inexperienced in foreign matters.

“I think he made a wonderful choice,” Marshall said.

“They keep saying he (Obama) doesn’t have the experience. So now he has somebody there with him that can pick up whatever slack he might have. I think it’s a great combination.”

— E-mail:

mannix@register-herald.com