I wouldn't say West Virginia is a "microcosm" of the Democratic Party's relationship with the white working class at all. More like West Virginia is a macrocosm of their issues with the coal industry and those that depend on it, along with Kentucky, SW Pennsylvania, SE Ohio, some areas of Virginia, etc. Anyway, kudos to her for visiting I guess, but the state is and will remain hostile territory to Democrats for a long time. Just like Vermont was a reliable Republican state that went hard towards the Democratic party in a short amount of time, West Virginia was a reliable Democratic state that is (has) going hard towards the Republican party in a short amount of time. I can see Trump getting 65-70% in the state even if Hillary wins nationwide by double digits.
The problem is that the Democrats have gone hard left on the issues that matter to them most. The Dems went from being moderate environmentalists (I'm pretty sure most people would support the Clean Water Act, for example) to hardcore hippie Sierra Club activists about it. Considering WV is a coal state, that doesn't play too well there. If the Democrats could shift a bit more to the middle on environmental issues, while still supporting labor rights and the basics of the New Deal, WV could shift back to the blue column.
I could see a moderate like Evan Bayh, Jim Webb, John Bel Edwards, etc. putting it into play in a future election.
Not trying to pick on you personally, but there's good reason the Democrats have gone "hard left" on coal. It's a major contributor towards climate change, which the Department of Defense considers a significant threat to national security.
"Shifting a bit more to the middle" on the environment at this point is like shifting a little towards the middle on allowing poison in baby food. It doesn't frelling matter how much of WV's economy depends on poisonous baby food, it's still a bad idea.
Yeah, but if they were at all willing to try and embrace a new kind of baby food, things could begin to turn around and recover. Problem is, these babies insist on eating poison.
