What dynamics caused West Virginia to change so much?

[No more McShame]

On the other hand more libertarian states like VT, NH, NJ, ME, and CA are now much more Democratic than before.

In the case of NH especially, I would be interested to see if them voting Democratic this year is more of a case of anti-Bush (Iraq, deficits, etc.) or are they moving more Democratic, or was it just that John Kerry was a neighbor and New England seems to reward that more than other parts of the country.

[No more McShame]

In the case of NH especially, I would be interested to see if them voting Democratic this year is more of a case of anti-Bush (Iraq, deficits, etc.) or are they moving more Democratic, or was it just that John Kerry was a neighbor and New England seems to reward that more than other parts of the country.

Umm, the change has been a  little bit more than that.
The last time a Massachusetts Democrat ran, it was the Republican's  (Bush 1988) 2nd best state.

That's a good point, now the question is if  NH is really trending Dem or if voting Kerry was more of a backlash against the Iraq War which seems fairly widespread in NH.