5.14.2008

An Open Letter to Senator Hillary Clinton

I lived in upstate New York for ten years and I voted for you when you first ran for Senate. Until now, I never regretted that vote.
I am feeling very disheartened this morning. I am disheartened because I suspected and the New York Times confirmed that “two in ten white West Virginia voters said that race was an important factor in their vote, and more than 8 in 10 of them backed Mrs. Clinton.”

My wife and I moved to West Virginia four years ago and have been impressed by the warmth and goodness of the people of this state. I have personally felt like I have come home having been raised by parents born of Appalachia, my mother having been born in Logan county, West Virginia and my father from Estill county, Kentucky. West Virginians are a proud people for good reasons.

West Virginians also have a long history of being used and being oppressed. From 1921 when President Roosevelt called in federal troops to put down West Virginians standing up for themselves against exploitive mine owners to the present day when the mountaintops are removed and the wealth from that heinous form of mining are sent to out-of-state corporations, this state has been taken advantage of by outsiders. Understandably so, one of the results of this is that the culture has developed a suspiciousness of outsiders and those who are different.

And you, Senator Clinton used that for your own gain! Instead of appealing to the better nature of West Virginians, you used our fears against us. You fanned the flames of racism in a state that has been historically isolated and a people who are rightfully suspicious of others.

Do you really care about the needs of hard-working West Virginians? Seems to me you used us for your own personal gain. I once respected you. I once voted for you. I once thought you were a leader but a leader is someone who helps people realize their better natures and their hopes.

Shame on you, Senator Clinton.

2 comments:

  1. I don't think WVians are any more proud than any other group. They are quite a bit more insecure than many others, so it may appear that they are proud in their need to promote their state.
    Yea, Billary has shown his/her tue colors this election cycle. They have gone from being the first family of democratic politics, revered by most dems to being the most despised in democratic politics by the liberal faction of the democratic party.
    Like my wife says. . . "My vote was Hillary's to lose. She lost it."

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  2. Get Lost. Big deal. If Hillary is not nominated , I as will thousands vote with the HE MEN REPUBLICAN not snivveling democrat males who are threatened by women.

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