In West Virginia, Ojeda shows how to campaign as a Democrat in Trump Country

In West Virginia, Ojeda shows how to campaign as a Democrat in Trump Country https://i1.wp.com/www.eresviral.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/En-West-Virginia-Ojeda-muestra-cómo-hacer-campaña-como-demócrata-en-Trump-Country.jpg?fit=209%2C146&ssl=1

In West Virginia, Ojeda shows how to campaign as a Democrat in Trump Country







Almost 50 years ago, a newcomer to the Democratic Party named John F. Kennedy campaigned in the mountainous fields of West Virginia and helped shed light on the Appalachians and poverty. His connection with the state helped him overcome it in the 1960 Democratic primaries, and ultimately helped him win the presidency.





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"He's the first president to come here and talk about West Virginia from a positive perspective," said Richard Ojeda, a Democratic candidate in the competitive 3rd District of West Virginia. "The sun does not always shine in West Virginia, but people do it."



As a tattooed and retired paratrooper with tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, and currently a state senator, Ojeda was thrown into the national spotlight during West Virginia teachers strikes.



Ojeda, who campaigns in his military uniform, is different from Kennedy in blue blood, except that he, too, is a newcomer politician, and Understands the power of a democrat by appearing and listening.. Ojeda's career in the southern part of the state, a district where Trump won 73 percent of the vote, could pave the way for Democrats hoping to compete in races in Trump's country.



Ojeda, who voted for Donald Trump In 2016, he said he believes the Democratic Party, the party that once helped Kennedy to be the best, has been lost in Appalachia.



"It's about finding people in the areas that can relate to these people and support them, it has to stop being what matters most to them," Ojeda told ABC News. "You know, you find the person that everyone in that area can relate to, who cares about people in that area and then supports that person, and if we do, do not make mistakes, we can go back to blue."





Mandel Ngan / AFP / Getty Images
On September 29, 2018, President Donald Trump sees the WesBanco Arena in Wheeling, West Virginia, before the start of a rally. 

Ojeda and his campaign have been working all day to ensure that happens. Wearing the army boots and speaking in an intense voice with a West Virginia accent, Ojeda knocked on doors and made his case in every county in the district.



"The people who are asking us tell us literally about the 30 doors, 21 will say Ojeda, two will say that my opponent and the rest will be undecided," Ojeda said. "So I think we're doing very well, I think we're going to win this."



His career against the Republican Carol Miller is considered one of the most competitive in the country.



Since elementary school, Trump has campaigned three times in the state. for Miller, and has criticized Ojeda as a "total whacko".



"I've seen that person: you can not have that person in Congress, he's crazy with cold," Trump said at a rally in Wheeling, West Virginia.



It is a label that Ojeda has embraced.



"If I'm crazy about the cold of the stone because I have a hard time sleeping at night because we have children who go to bed hungry, then I'll be crazy about the cold of the stone, and I agree with that," Ojeda said. He said.



 [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkkJFFnVK-s&w=560&h=315]

For Ojeda, it's personal. He said his campaign team consists of people who have been affected by the opioid epidemic.



"My political director lost the mother and father to an overdose, my financier found his brother dead with a syringe sticking out of his arm and recently lost a nephew, my media person has literally passed all his life with his aunt and uncle, because of the opioids, "said Ojeda.



In 2016, West Virginia had the highest rate of deaths from opioid-related overdoses in the country, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse.



"None of us comes from areas where wealth is really part of life," Ojeda said. "We've come to these areas and we've seen people fight all our lives, we've fought, and that's why we're all so committed to this, I have people who literally could not even tell you how many hours they put into this campaign, how many miles they walked. how many doors they touched, how many phone calls they made, but they did it and they did it with a smile on their face because they know we're doing everything possible to finally shed a positive light and return positive light to southern West Virginia. "



Ojeda is running on a populist, pro-coal, pro-Second Amendment platform that focuses on working families, veterans, battling the opioid epidemic and protecting social services. He has raised almost twice as much money as his opponent, Miller, who is running on a pro-Trump platform and largely bypasses the media or any public debate.



"This is so important choice"To continue the work that our president has done over the past two years, we need to make the United States big again," Miller told ABC News. "There are so many different problems, the economy is starting to roll and we really need to move forward, of course, in southern West Virginia we are very concerned about coal, infrastructure and all those other issues that are important to the whole country." .



As a Democrat, Ojeda has found a way to attract Trump supporters, Democrats and those who have distanced themselves from politics. He has made a personal mark for being loud and open, unlike polished or reserved politicians. Supporters said he is more like the type of West Virginia you know.



Just days before the election, when Trump made his final appeal to the state in Huntington, the basis of the Ojeda campaign, Democratic Congressman Joe Kennedy III, a Massachusetts Democrat, came out to support Ojeda and tour the downtown area.



Kennedy, tall, young, and part of the new generation of the Democratic Party, is not the kind of politician you would expect to see in Huntington, but he came to the headquarters of the Ojeda campaign. For the occasion, Ojeda, who normally wears his uniforms, put on a suit and tie.



"I'm glad to see you here," Ojeda said.



"My honor, my honor," Kennedy said with a handshake.



Kennedy, the great nephew of John F. Kennedy, has been touring the country in support of the new Democratic candidates. He said he was very excited to come to West Virginia. It is in places like this, he says, where the risks of this choice are "very clear".



"This is personal, my family has a very deep story here, one that we are proud of and have heard stories about since I was a child," Kennedy said. "You have the opportunity to send a message to West Virginia and to our entire country about what the policy can be and what the service can be."



"I would like to be able to cast that vote," Kennedy said.



Ojeda and Kennedy spent some time at Jim's Steak and Spaghetti, a former family restaurant in the heart of downtown Huntington.



Above them, a black and white photo of John F. Kennedy, sitting on the same green vinyl benches, was served coffee in 1960.



Like many people in West Virginia, Ojeda said his family remembers when the young politician arrived in the city.



"When President Kennedy came to West Virginia, he talked about West Virginia and the people who gave pride to the people here, and my family, my father remembers when President Kennedy was in Logan County and places like the smokehouse sitting in chairs, talking to People, "said Ojeda. "I think it's about serving and serving people, and that's exactly what President Kennedy did, and that's exactly what I want to do."

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