What happened to Obama in Appalachia?

[Snowstalker Mk. II]

Very low Democratic turnout (Wyoming County, WV, had 38% turnout and went from 54% Gore to 77% Romney) thanks to the coal barons' propaganda. Sadly there are a lot of Democrats who hate Obama and would vote for Romney anyway, but if turnout in southern WV/eastern KY were at the national average, Obama would have done much better (maybe he would have won more than Elliot).

[Snowstalker Mk. II]

It was largely because of coal mining and because of Obama's far-left politics.  Race had nothing to do with it.  Remember that the "hillbillies" in Appalachia got their name because they remained loyal to the Union ("Billy Yanks") during the Civil War.

Exactly. Obama won this election thanks to racist Southerners (not Appalachians) and clueless blacks who don't know that the Democrat Party was the party of slavery. His best state, after all, was Alabama (99.97%). Romney got something like 80% in the freedom-loving state of Vermont.

[Snowstalker Mk. II]

The swing in 2008 was a mix of racist sentiment, Hillary butthurt, and coal. In 2012 it was almost entirely coal (if not for the Clintons, I suspect Obama would have fared even worse in Appalachia).

Elliott County is now the only county left (outside of maybe some South Texas counties) that has never voted Republican. Obama held on here by a 49-46 margin; based on my brief research, it's very small and very poor. Oddly, the area had a big swing towards Kerry in 2004.

[Snowstalker Mk. II]

Only three counties have never voted Republican.

Elliott, KY
Brooks, TX
Washington, DC

South Texas has changed amazingly little in its voting/demographic history. It's almost always been heavily Mexican, very Democratic, and very poor.

[Snowstalker Mk. II]

Oldies: Yes, much of Eastern Tennessee has been heavily Republican since the Civil War. However, parts of east-central Tennessee, as well as rural areas west of Nashville, are historically Democratic, and had heavy swings against Obama in 2008 (and 2012 to a lesser extent).

[Snowstalker Mk. II]

Only three counties have never voted Republican.

Elliott, KY
Brooks, TX
Washington, DC

It looks like that streak in Elliott may soon come to an end, given the latest results.   

If the 2016 Democratic nominee isn't somehow Obama, it probably won't end. Brooks, TX (poor Latinos) and DC (self-explanatory) obviously won't end their streaks for a long time.