No doubt Democrat leaders in West Virginia will attempt to salvage a few votes for President Barack Obama this fall by pointing to economic growth in the state.
Why, our gross domestic product increased by 4.5 percent last year, they will note.
That is true enough. But a more important statistic - one Obama loyalists are not likely to mention - is unemployment. During April, the last month for which numbers were available, West Virginia's unemployment rate was 6.7 percent. It was just 5.8 percent when Obama took office.
Joblessness is even worse in the Northern Panhandle, with only one county, Ohio, near the state rate. Unemployment in the panhandle's other counties ranges from 7.9 percent in Marshall County to 10 percent in Hancock County.
Worse is to come, if Obama and liberals in Congress get their way. If he succeeds in his campaign to destroy the coal industry, tens of thousands of West Virginia jobs will vanish. Hundreds in mining already have been lost because of Environmental Protection Agency action.
So yes, come election time, let's by all means discuss the economy in West Virginia.
