How Much Further Right Can Appalachia Go?

[ElectionsGuy]

In the Modern Era, democrats have done well in the Northeast, Midwest, and the Pacific Coast, but the party is dying in places like Kentucky, West Virginia, and Tennessee. These states overall have trended to the right in recent years, and all of them had their best performance for the republican candidate in 2012 since 1972. Far Eastern Tennessee has always been historically very republican (look at 1980) but Eastern Kentucky and Southern West Virginia have been historically democratic because of the coal country there. These are old-fashioned democrats turned hard against the anti-coal Obama administration and the new environmentalist part of the democratic party. My question to you is... How far can the Appalachia go? Will there be a limit? Will it continue to go on like this if we keep having anti-coal presidents? and Will this be a short term or long term trend?

Also if the republican Senator for 2014 gets elected there (which he/she is highly expected to), it will be the first time a republican senator got elected in West Virginia since 1956.

[ElectionsGuy]

I think there is still room to grow for the GOP in Appalachia. Take for example West Virginia. There is no reason for why such a state should be represented by two Democrats in the Senate.

There absolutely is: it's still one of the poorest states.

Poor doesn't equal Dem all the time though. Just look at the south. Yes most of the very poor are blacks but there are also many poor whites who vote republican. Really if you think about it the poor/rich divide is because of mostly race. Poor and rich whites have less of a divide.

[ElectionsGuy]

This article describes exactly what is happening in the Appalachian. It's a good read.

http://www.nationaljournal.com/columns/on-the-trail/the-shift-of-king-coal-20130114

In other words, Big Coal is trying to buy the election for the Republicans, a party that's done nothing good for the region in modern times.

Do you support the war on American coal?

Do you support the war on American green energy?

Green Energy works great! Just look at Solyndra!