Clinton trounces Obama in West Virigina!

I mean, Clinton trounces Obama in West Virginia.

There are no exclamation points in the news, because her win in yesterday's primary (by a 2:1 margin) is no surprise. 

As The Politico's Roger Simon writes:

If a tree falls in the forest when everybody expects it to fall, does it make a sound?

 

Yes, says Hillary Clinton. It makes a deafening roar, says Hillary Clinton.

 

SHE WON THE WEST VIRGINIA PRIMARY BY A KAZILLION PERCENTAGE POINTS TUESDAY NIGHT, AND THAT, SHE SAYS, HAS TO MEAN SOMETHING!

 

Except the press doesn’t think so. The press is unimpressed. This may be the first time in election history in which the press has withdrawn from a race before the candidate.

 

As John Harwood of the New York Times and CNBC said on MSNBC Tuesday several hours before the polls closed, “The headline tomorrow will be: ‘Hillary Clinton Wins Big in West Virginia; Democratic Party Yawns.’”

The win gives a little oomph to Clinton and her surrogates, who are on the road (and airways) stressing their determination to stay the course.  In her victory speech, Clinton is resolution in human form: “I am more determined than ever to carry on this campaign until everyone has had a chance to make their voices heard.”

The margins are what they are because the West Virginia demographic is Clinton's sweet spot: voters who are white, lower-income, lesser-educated, socially conservative, and a little uncomfortable with their non-white compatriots. 

It's unsettling that Clinton has made a coalition of the lesser-educated and racially disgruntled.  Considered in light of her race gaffe last week - claiming her strength was "hardworking Americans, white Americans" - it is hard to feel that she's not making political hay out of American ignorance.