After the cheers and shouts subsided, Perdue said he's never going to agree with everything the president does but that Obama has had to make some tough decisions.

"He's never forgotten the people of this nation," Perdue said at the Charleston Civic Center on Saturday. "In November, let's don't forget him."

Support for the president ran strong at the convention, despite recent statements from at least two West Virginia Democratic leaders saying they might not vote for Obama again. During Saturday morning's session, delegates passed a resolution that state and national candidates must support all elected party officials, including the president. Delegates also adopted the party's 2012 platform and approved several other resolutions.

Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin recently said they don't know whether they'll vote for Obama in the fall, citing, in part, his administration's environmental regulations, which they say adversely affect the coal industry.

The resolution passed during the convention states that when party candidates offer conflicting opinions about elected officials, it confuses voters. According to the resolution, all state and national candidates must publicly support and endorse all Democratic state and national officeholders, "including the head of the Democratic Party and our President, Barack Obama."

Remington Markos, a delegate from Ohio County, said after the vote that he supported the resolution because he sees a need for unity among Democrats.

"If you don't support the party as a whole," he said, "then you probably shouldn't be in the party at all."

Jim Hoyt, a delegate from Morgan County who was discussing the issue with Markos, wasn't in favor of the resolution because he said he didn't want to force candidates to voice opinions they don't agree with.

He did say, however, that he is "proud to be a Barack Obama Democrat" and that he didn't think Manchin and Tomblin handled their frustrations with the president in an appropriate manner.

"A lot of us are disappointed with the way they've done that," he said.

Hoyt and Markos also talked about energy, citing the need for clean coal.

Hoyt said West Virginia shouldn't get rid of its coal industry, adding that he lives in a home that's heated and lit by electricity from coal.

However, he also said he'd like to see the focus move from coal to solar and wind power.

Manchin addressed his feelings about the coal industry during the convention's morning session. He said West Virginia Democrats stand for energy independence but also said "we have some differences right now on the national level."

He did not directly mention Obama or his policies during his speech.

The state's junior senator stressed the importance of using all of West Virginia's natural resources and said there can be a balance, noting that he wants a clean environment and clean water.

During the convention, delegates also passed the 2012 party platform, which includes a section about working toward "a cleaner, healthier environment that promotes energy independence."

The section also says the party is fighting for "broad improvements in federal and state energy policies to combat increasingly serious environmental issues both globally and here at home."

Other sections of the platform advocate:

Delegates also passed two amendments to the platform. One supports improvements to women's health care, and the other supports civil rights and condemns discrimination.

Additional resolutions passed during the convention's morning session were:

Reach Alison Matas at alison.ma...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-5100.