West Virginians know Hillary Clinton, if elected president, would intensify the economic disaster ultra-liberal President Barack Obama has inflicted upon us. Donald Trump’s policy ideas are far more favorable to us.

But what if Clinton wins on Nov. 8, which is a distinct possibility?

Turning back the assault she would mount on our economy and, in some respects, our way of life would require defenders both in Congress and our state government.

State Senate President Bill Cole, the Republican candidate for governor, already has led legislators in balking at some Obama initiatives, including the war on coal and affordable electricity. Cole agrees with Trump’s ideas about energy, personal liberties and other key issues.

Jim Justice, the Democrat nominee for governor, claims he would defend West Virginians. After all, he points out, he owns coal mines.

But can we rely on one of Clinton’s fellow Democrats to defend us every time?

No.

Will he go to bat for West Virginia farmers who face the Environmental Protection Agency’s wrath?

If Clinton gains power to chip away at Second Amendment rights, will her fellow Democrat find ways to defend them at the state level or, perhaps, by joining with other governors?

If our attorney general takes a Clinton White House to court, will Justice support him — or, as some Democrats in the Legislature already have tried to do, limit his power to fight?

If our U.S. senators refuse to confirm ultra-liberals nominated to the Supreme Court, will Justice support them or work within the state to replace them?

Political partisanship is a powerful thing. We have seen that during the Obama administration as many Democrat members of Congress and Democrat governors supported the White House, even when it was not in their states’ best interests.

West Virginians are on the ropes in some ways, put there by the Obama administration. Can we risk having a governor who fights for us only some of the time?

No.

We have pointed out the need of having Republicans represent us in Congress to counter Clinton, if she is elected. The same thing is true of our governor.

Some voters, many of them Democrats, may go to the polls believing that a vote for Donald Trump fulfills the need for them to use their ballots to defend the state from liberal assaults.

But voting for Trump is not enough. The stakes are simply too high for half-measures in defense of our state and our fellow West Virginians.