Deadest Clinton/Romney-state

[GaussLaw]

I mean, elephant in the room is that a lot of people who have no problem voting for other Democrats weren't going to vote for a Black candidate

Honestly, if you look at the map of the swing, most of that came in coal mining regions that are very pro-life and pro-gun rights, who perceive Obama and other liberals as hostile to coal.

As if Kerry weren't a liberal........

I agree that the shift in 2012 was due to coal.  2008, a variety of factors came into play.  I don't think it was so much his race, but more that he seemed "foreign"......with background in Kenya/Indonesia, attending fancy universities, "clinging to guns and religion", etc.   If Obama were a black Democrat representing Louisville's congressional district and had a name like "Kenneth Brown", he would've done much better in those areas.

NOTE:  I am NOT condoning the reasoning behind how these voters in the Ozarks/Appalachians voted.  I'm just saying that it was more Obama's "persona" than just strictly his race.