As long as this country has existed, this charming Eastern Panhandle town has thrived, thanks initially to its abundant mineral water and proximity to the nation's capital.

George Washington not only slept here in America's first official resort town, he bathed here. He came first as a teenage surveyor and later as president, seeking the medicinal springs' healing effects.

Yet thriving is tough in this economy. Just ask Shannon DeLaunden, out of work for more than a year.

A health care worker who first voted in 2008 -- for President Barack Obama -- she voices one problem Democrats face: "I won't vote this November."

Still inspired by Obama's charm and promise, she can't think of a way she has benefited from his policies.

That's a problem the president may face in another election year. Now, it's why Gov. Joe Manchin, a popular Democrat, faces a tough race against Republican businessman John Raese to complete the late Robert Byrd's Senate term.

A recent survey by Rasmussen Reports shows Manchin up only six points, 48 percent to 42 percent. A month earlier, Manchin was at 51 percent, Raese at 35 percent.

Much of Manchin's problem is that in seeking to go to Washington, D.C., he morphs in voters' minds into an Obama Democrat.

Once known as Bath, Berkeley Springs relies on tourism. The Potomac River flows just to its north, and the Cacapon and Sleepy Creek mountains surround this valley town.

Tom Grinder, a Baltimore transplant who owns Portals, a New Age shop in the heart of town, says he is holding his own in this economy -- "barely."

An independent voter, Grinder likes Manchin as governor but hasn't decided whether to vote for him this fall.

He winces when he realizes Manchin's former general counsel and handpicked Senate seat-holder, Carte Goodwin, gave Democrats the vote needed to move the unemployment bill.

"That changes everything," Grinder says bluntly. "Manchin essentially showed me how he would have voted on spending, and possibly a lot of other things that I opposed with this administration."

Welcome to the land of classic Jacksonian Democrats, who vote God, guns and country. Largely descendants of Scots-Irish immigrants who inherently distrust government, they may not show up for a protest but they do vote their consciences and pocketbooks.

Given the political climate, it is almost as if the rest of the country has embraced its inner West Virginia.

This state's politics are awkward for Democrats. The Senate race is a possible problem, as are races for two of West Virginia's three U.S. House seats. The Democrats' national committees, spread thin by a discontented, disconnected electorate, are spending money here.

In West Virginia's 1st Congressional District, longtime Rep. Alan Mollohan was defeated in the primary by fellow Democrat state Sen. Mike Oliverio. Republican David McKinley ran a strong primary campaign and gives the GOP a solid opportunity for a gain in the 1st, where John McCain took 57 percent of the 2008 vote.

Little attention was paid to the 3rd District race until longtime Rep. Nick Rahall, a Democrat, used congressional stationery to ask a judge for leniency for his son in a 2005 robbery case. GOP candidate Spike Maynard may capitalize on that and is making a case that Rahall has not done enough to stop the Obama administration's "War on Coal."

Chuck Wheeler, a former Capitol Hill Democrat staffer who owns Berkeley Springs' Fairfax Coffeehouse and upscale Mt. Laurel Gallery, thinks Manchin has no problem -- probably because Wheeler has no Manchin problem.

He says the stimulus package did a great job but admits the economy is bad and so is business. He loves the health-care bill but admits he has no idea what's in it or whether it will benefit his employees.

Frustrated by his own admissions as he walks through his beautiful but empty gallery, Wheeler says, "Well, I think a lot of the reason why people don't like Obama is racism."

Later, in his coffee shop, he wonders if that is the real reason.