Though given Democratic collapses - or at least dangerously steep declines - in other historical strongholds of labour power, it's no longer really enough to point out that the Iron Range is, indeed, a historical stronghold of labour power. The question to ask is why has it remained resilient - or at least comparatively resilient: we shouldn't forget what happened in 2010 - while Greater Pittsburgh (say) hasn't?
Correct me if I'm wrong Al (which I almost certainly am- you certainly know more about these things than me), but it seems to me that the Democratic collapse in working class areas has be been pretty overstated. The Iron Range votes D, Scranton-Wilkes-Barre votes D, the mill towns of rural New England vote D- and that's not even including non-white areas like the black belt. It seems to me that the really huge declines have been concentrated in Central Appalachia, and I'd argue it's due to a perfect storm of factors- local social conservatism, decline in the local industries during a Democratic presidency, etc.
Exit polls show that a solid majority of the working class voted Democratic in the last presidential election - a higher share of the vote than from any other "class", from what I remember. So I think you are right, this "collapse" has been overstated, though obviously in a large country like the US, there will always be vast regional differences in such trends.
