I would love to see the 2008 presidential campaign hoofing through West Virginia. It's exciting when the biggest story in the country arrives on your doorstep.

Plus, it's generally good for the state for the next president to know more about us. 

But I suspect it's not going to happen this time around.

I hope I'm wrong, but when you look at the numbers and the states at play across the country, you have to wonder whether Barack Obama or John McCain believes it's worth their while to spend much time here between now and November. 

Actually, neither candidate is very popular in the state right now, according to pollster Scott Rasmussen of Rasmussen Reports.

McCain has the support of 45 percent of the voters, compared with 37 percent for Obama with 18 percent either undecided or supporting someone else.

The reason, Rasmussen says, is that Hillary Clinton spent a lot of time campaigning here before the primary election beating up on Obama and McCain.

"It will take awhile before that wears off," Rasmussen told me.

Still, it would appear that Obama is within striking distance; he's only eight points down.  But Obama's negatives are extremely high here, especially considering West Virginia has twice as many Democrats as Republicans. 

Rasmussen found that 35 percent of the state's voters have a "very unfavorable" opinion of Obama, while 22 percent have a "somewhat unfavorable" view.

"Other than Hillary Clinton nationally, we rarely see politicians getting to this level, unless they've been president for awhile, like George W. Bush," said Rasmussen.

Clearly, West Virginia is leaning toward McCain, though CNN will not put West Virginia in the "solid McCain" category.

I would love to see the 2008 presidential campaign hoofing through West Virginia. It's exciting when the biggest story in the country arrives on your doorstep.

Plus, it's generally good for the state for the next president to know more about us. 

But I suspect it's not going to happen this time around.

I hope I'm wrong, but when you look at the numbers and the states at play across the country, you have to wonder whether Barack Obama or John McCain believes it's worth their while to spend much time here between now and November. 

Actually, neither candidate is very popular in the state right now, according to pollster Scott Rasmussen of Rasmussen Reports.

McCain has the support of 45 percent of the voters, compared with 37 percent for Obama with 18 percent either undecided or supporting someone else.

The reason, Rasmussen says, is that Hillary Clinton spent a lot of time campaigning here before the primary election beating up on Obama and McCain.

"It will take awhile before that wears off," Rasmussen told me.

Still, it would appear that Obama is within striking distance; he's only eight points down.  But Obama's negatives are extremely high here, especially considering West Virginia has twice as many Democrats as Republicans. 

Rasmussen found that 35 percent of the state's voters have a "very unfavorable" opinion of Obama, while 22 percent have a "somewhat unfavorable" view.

"Other than Hillary Clinton nationally, we rarely see politicians getting to this level, unless they've been president for awhile, like George W. Bush," said Rasmussen.

Clearly, West Virginia is leaning toward McCain, though CNN will not put West Virginia in the "solid McCain" category.

The question is, will Obama spend precious time between now and Nov. 4 trying to turn West Virginia from red to blue?

And if Obama writes off the state, how much does McCain really have to do to keep West Virginia? 

Only the campaign strategists know the answers, but it would seem logical that Obama would concentrate on battleground states, where he has fewer negatives to overcome, rather than spend the time, energy and money necessary to try to turn West Virginia.

What West Virginia does have going for it is that geographically, the Mountain State is in the middle of the fray. Three border states - Virginia, Pennsylvania and Ohio - are all considered toss-up states.  Together those states have 54 electoral votes. 

So at least the campaign will be next door, possibly making it easier for Obama or McCain to slip into West Virginia.

But McCain may not have to spend much time here to secure the state's five electoral votes, especially if Obama does not see West Virginia as being in play. 

"If I were John McCain, I wouldn't worry about West Virginia," Rasmussen said.

We've gotten a little spoiled in the last two presidential elections. George Bush saw his opportunity in 2000, hit West Virginia hard, and turned the state red for two presidential elections. 

Democrats look at voter registration and their dominance of the public offices and dream of returning the state to what they believe is its rightful status of blue. But the early math doesn't show that happening.

West Virginia could find itself relegated to flyover country for this year's presidential contest.

Kercheval is host of TalkLine, broadcast by the MetroNews Statewide Radio Network from 10 a.m. to noon Monday through Friday. The show can be heard locally on WCHS 580 AM.