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Pastors in Politics. So far, there had been little talk of the candidates' religion, although much talk had been prophesied in view of the fact that West Virginia is 93% Protestant. The pastor of a United Brethren Church in Parkersburg told his flock that if Kennedy wins, "the Pope will be running the country," and the Rev. Norman Vincent Peale, stopping off in Charleston, doubted that a Catholic could remain independent. That was all, so far. And everyone remembered that in darkest 1928, Al Smith won West Virginia's Democratic primary (81,739-75,976) against Missouri's Protestant Senator James Reed.