How West Virginia has turned to a GOP stronghold?

[Fuzzy Bear]

A couple of things are at work.

It would be incredibly difficult to overstate the influence coal's decline has had on West Virginia's politics. West Virginia Democrats never actively disavowed their national party on the coal issue. The UMW didn't necessarily collapse with the mines, but their organization collapsed because they continued to support national Democrats in direct contrast to what benefits coal and their members. The UMW essentially committed suicide, with an overwhelming percentage of its members being retirees who are losing their benefits to bankruptcy.

Cultural issues are also an incredible, incredible rightward pressure on voters. The assumption for a long time has been that WV Democrats are cultural conservatives. That's certainly what they ran on. But they made these pro-life promises for so long that unrest began around 2008 in the country churches with folks asking why, after electing all people that say they're pro-life , are abortions legal in the ninth month courtesy of the taxpayer. This sort of 'why aren't you delivering?' mentality began to shift the organizational power toward the Republicans.

It's also important to highlight that Democrats couldn't touch the traditional Republican base. The upper middle class on up has always been a strongly Republican constituency. The Democrats couldn't compete there. There were also certain parts of the state which were Republican before the state began to move. There has always been a powerful sense of political inertia, meaning that communities favor incumbents so they all line up with the incumbent power. Chinks in the incumbency armor favor Republicans and they have been occurring at an ever increasing rate.

While the politics on the ground has resulted in much of the movement toward the Republican Party, the Democratic leadership has essentially kissed Appalachia goodbye. Think of who controls the Democratic Party: folks whose only political ideology is social liberalism. They're views on society and culture are derived from liberalism. They're views on work and money are informed by social liberalism. This creates a permanent disdain for Appalachian people.

How many times have liberals mockingly called West Virginia a taker state voting against their own government-dependent interests because they're dumb and racist? Every time they discuss my people. The economic promise of the Democratic Party used to be about work, unions, and stopping the government from screwing the working man. Today, the economic promise of the Democratic Party is of wielding government power to screw over the rich to give out free things. Republicans in WV used to be a very patrician party. Today the Republicans will say, 'We care about your work. We want to prevent government from screwing you over in the form of EPA regs. We don't like the union much but we do support your cultural values.'

You must also consider the type of work done by the old members of the Democratic majority. They mined coal in the south, cut timber in the middle, and worked steel in the north. Everyone was sore after a day of work. The first Democratic message resonated with these guys. The second one, not so much. Try justifying taxing those guys to provide free stuff to those who don't work. I can't tell you how many times I've heard, 'I don't have a high school diploma but I can keep my family fed, what's their excuse?'

TLDR; The Democratic Party left us. They don't care about us. We finally realized that.

The highlighted quote is truer for WV than for a good chunk of folks with that complaint.  Most of the South left over the racial issue.  WV left over the issue of their livelihoods and aspects of their values that had nothing to do with race.

[hopper]

A couple of things are at work.

It would be incredibly difficult to overstate the influence coal's decline has had on West Virginia's politics. West Virginia Democrats never actively disavowed their national party on the coal issue. The UMW didn't necessarily collapse with the mines, but their organization collapsed because they continued to support national Democrats in direct contrast to what benefits coal and their members. The UMW essentially committed suicide, with an overwhelming percentage of its members being retirees who are losing their benefits to bankruptcy.

Cultural issues are also an incredible, incredible rightward pressure on voters. The assumption for a long time has been that WV Democrats are cultural conservatives. That's certainly what they ran on. But they made these pro-life promises for so long that unrest began around 2008 in the country churches with folks asking why, after electing all people that say they're pro-life , are abortions legal in the ninth month courtesy of the taxpayer. This sort of 'why aren't you delivering?' mentality began to shift the organizational power toward the Republicans.

It's also important to highlight that Democrats couldn't touch the traditional Republican base. The upper middle class on up has always been a strongly Republican constituency. The Democrats couldn't compete there. There were also certain parts of the state which were Republican before the state began to move. There has always been a powerful sense of political inertia, meaning that communities favor incumbents so they all line up with the incumbent power. Chinks in the incumbency armor favor Republicans and they have been occurring at an ever increasing rate.

While the politics on the ground has resulted in much of the movement toward the Republican Party, the Democratic leadership has essentially kissed Appalachia goodbye. Think of who controls the Democratic Party: folks whose only political ideology is social liberalism. They're views on society and culture are derived from liberalism. They're views on work and money are informed by social liberalism. This creates a permanent disdain for Appalachian people.

How many times have liberals mockingly called West Virginia a taker state voting against their own government-dependent interests because they're dumb and racist? Every time they discuss my people. The economic promise of the Democratic Party used to be about work, unions, and stopping the government from screwing the working man. Today, the economic promise of the Democratic Party is of wielding government power to screw over the rich to give out free things. Republicans in WV used to be a very patrician party. Today the Republicans will say, 'We care about your work. We want to prevent government from screwing you over in the form of EPA regs. We don't like the union much but we do support your cultural values.'

You must also consider the type of work done by the old members of the Democratic majority. They mined coal in the south, cut timber in the middle, and worked steel in the north. Everyone was sore after a day of work. The first Democratic message resonated with these guys. The second one, not so much. Try justifying taxing those guys to provide free stuff to those who don't work. I can't tell you how many times I've heard, 'I don't have a high school diploma but I can keep my family fed, what's their excuse?'

TLDR; The Democratic Party left us. They don't care about us. We finally realized that.

The highlighted quote is truer for WV than for a good chunk of folks with that complaint.  Most of the South left over the racial issue.  WV left over the issue of their livelihoods and aspects of their values that had nothing to do with race.

The most interesting thing about the South was that most of the Southern State Legislatures went Republican in the mid to late 2000's except for South Carolina which went Republican in 2002 I think. Virginia went Republican in 1997 with majorities in each legislative body but the Dems have won back "The House of Delegates" a few times since then and have nearly maintained split control of the State Senate of late. If the Southern State Legislatures went Republican because of race wouldn't have those state legislatures went Republican after Strom Thurmond switched parties?

[Frodo]

A couple of things are at work.

It would be incredibly difficult to overstate the influence coal's decline has had on West Virginia's politics. West Virginia Democrats never actively disavowed their national party on the coal issue. The UMW didn't necessarily collapse with the mines, but their organization collapsed because they continued to support national Democrats in direct contrast to what benefits coal and their members. The UMW essentially committed suicide, with an overwhelming percentage of its members being retirees who are losing their benefits to bankruptcy.

Cultural issues are also an incredible, incredible rightward pressure on voters. The assumption for a long time has been that WV Democrats are cultural conservatives. That's certainly what they ran on. But they made these pro-life promises for so long that unrest began around 2008 in the country churches with folks asking why, after electing all people that say they're pro-life , are abortions legal in the ninth month courtesy of the taxpayer. This sort of 'why aren't you delivering?' mentality began to shift the organizational power toward the Republicans.

It's also important to highlight that Democrats couldn't touch the traditional Republican base. The upper middle class on up has always been a strongly Republican constituency. The Democrats couldn't compete there. There were also certain parts of the state which were Republican before the state began to move. There has always been a powerful sense of political inertia, meaning that communities favor incumbents so they all line up with the incumbent power. Chinks in the incumbency armor favor Republicans and they have been occurring at an ever increasing rate.

While the politics on the ground has resulted in much of the movement toward the Republican Party, the Democratic leadership has essentially kissed Appalachia goodbye. Think of who controls the Democratic Party: folks whose only political ideology is social liberalism. They're views on society and culture are derived from liberalism. They're views on work and money are informed by social liberalism. This creates a permanent disdain for Appalachian people.

How many times have liberals mockingly called West Virginia a taker state voting against their own government-dependent interests because they're dumb and racist? Every time they discuss my people. The economic promise of the Democratic Party used to be about work, unions, and stopping the government from screwing the working man. Today, the economic promise of the Democratic Party is of wielding government power to screw over the rich to give out free things. Republicans in WV used to be a very patrician party. Today the Republicans will say, 'We care about your work. We want to prevent government from screwing you over in the form of EPA regs. We don't like the union much but we do support your cultural values.'

You must also consider the type of work done by the old members of the Democratic majority. They mined coal in the south, cut timber in the middle, and worked steel in the north. Everyone was sore after a day of work. The first Democratic message resonated with these guys. The second one, not so much. Try justifying taxing those guys to provide free stuff to those who don't work. I can't tell you how many times I've heard, 'I don't have a high school diploma but I can keep my family fed, what's their excuse?'

TLDR; The Democratic Party left us. They don't care about us. We finally realized that.

The highlighted quote is truer for WV than for a good chunk of folks with that complaint.  Most of the South left over the racial issue.  WV left over the issue of their livelihoods and aspects of their values that had nothing to do with race.

The most interesting thing about the South was that most of the Southern State Legislatures went Republican in the mid to late 2000's except for South Carolina which went Republican in 2002 I think. Virginia went Republican in 1997 with majorities in each legislative body but the Dems have won back "The House of Delegates" a few times since then and have nearly maintained split control of the State Senate of late. If the Southern State Legislatures went Republican because of race wouldn't have those state legislatures went Republican after Strom Thurmond switched parties?

It is the Senate that has wobbled back and forth between the parties.  Republicans have maintained virtually unbroken control of the House of Delegates since they first won control of it in the 1999 elections. 

[hopper]

A couple of things are at work.

It would be incredibly difficult to overstate the influence coal's decline has had on West Virginia's politics. West Virginia Democrats never actively disavowed their national party on the coal issue. The UMW didn't necessarily collapse with the mines, but their organization collapsed because they continued to support national Democrats in direct contrast to what benefits coal and their members. The UMW essentially committed suicide, with an overwhelming percentage of its members being retirees who are losing their benefits to bankruptcy.

Cultural issues are also an incredible, incredible rightward pressure on voters. The assumption for a long time has been that WV Democrats are cultural conservatives. That's certainly what they ran on. But they made these pro-life promises for so long that unrest began around 2008 in the country churches with folks asking why, after electing all people that say they're pro-life , are abortions legal in the ninth month courtesy of the taxpayer. This sort of 'why aren't you delivering?' mentality began to shift the organizational power toward the Republicans.

It's also important to highlight that Democrats couldn't touch the traditional Republican base. The upper middle class on up has always been a strongly Republican constituency. The Democrats couldn't compete there. There were also certain parts of the state which were Republican before the state began to move. There has always been a powerful sense of political inertia, meaning that communities favor incumbents so they all line up with the incumbent power. Chinks in the incumbency armor favor Republicans and they have been occurring at an ever increasing rate.

While the politics on the ground has resulted in much of the movement toward the Republican Party, the Democratic leadership has essentially kissed Appalachia goodbye. Think of who controls the Democratic Party: folks whose only political ideology is social liberalism. They're views on society and culture are derived from liberalism. They're views on work and money are informed by social liberalism. This creates a permanent disdain for Appalachian people.

How many times have liberals mockingly called West Virginia a taker state voting against their own government-dependent interests because they're dumb and racist? Every time they discuss my people. The economic promise of the Democratic Party used to be about work, unions, and stopping the government from screwing the working man. Today, the economic promise of the Democratic Party is of wielding government power to screw over the rich to give out free things. Republicans in WV used to be a very patrician party. Today the Republicans will say, 'We care about your work. We want to prevent government from screwing you over in the form of EPA regs. We don't like the union much but we do support your cultural values.'

You must also consider the type of work done by the old members of the Democratic majority. They mined coal in the south, cut timber in the middle, and worked steel in the north. Everyone was sore after a day of work. The first Democratic message resonated with these guys. The second one, not so much. Try justifying taxing those guys to provide free stuff to those who don't work. I can't tell you how many times I've heard, 'I don't have a high school diploma but I can keep my family fed, what's their excuse?'

TLDR; The Democratic Party left us. They don't care about us. We finally realized that.

The highlighted quote is truer for WV than for a good chunk of folks with that complaint.  Most of the South left over the racial issue.  WV left over the issue of their livelihoods and aspects of their values that had nothing to do with race.

The most interesting thing about the South was that most of the Southern State Legislatures went Republican in the mid to late 2000's except for South Carolina which went Republican in 2002 I think. Virginia went Republican in 1997 with majorities in each legislative body but the Dems have won back "The House of Delegates" a few times since then and have nearly maintained split control of the State Senate of late. If the Southern State Legislatures went Republican because of race wouldn't have those state legislatures went Republican after Strom Thurmond switched parties?

It is the Senate that has wobbled back and forth between the parties.  Republicans have maintained virtually unbroken control of the House of Delegates since they first won control of it in the 1999 elections. 

Oh it had backwards, thanks.

[DINGO Joe]

Don't know when I'll get around to a full post on just how inks coal in WV is but this is a little teaser



Something happened at the end of the 20th Century and last decade that suddenly made gas power plants the thing to build.

Florida makes for a fascinating case study.  In 2001 it actually got more electric power from coal than NG, by 2009 it was getting twice as much from NG than coal, by 2012 it was getting 3X from NG and now is closing in on 4X.  FP&L is actually buying a coal plant in the state so they can shut it down and get out of a long term purchase contract they had with the plant.  Not because of any environmental issue, but because they could save money even when taking into account the cost of buying the plant.

http://www.bizjournals.com/jacksonville/news/2015/08/27/jacksonvilles-cedar-bay-coal-power-plant-to-bought.html

Florida will get about 18% of their electric from coal this year. Of the coal Florida does still use, it's about as likely to come from Colombia than WV at this point.

[Hillary pays minimum wage]

Starting with 1984, each election trended to the right in WV.  It was a sudden change in 2000 which the gun issue may have triggered.  Bush won by 6-7 though.

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

It was always a Dixiecrat state, but Robert C Byrd kept it in the Democratic column, and so did Jay Rockefeller.  It voted for Carter, LBJ, JFK, Truman & Clinton. It became a GOP, after Byrd.

[mds32]

Robert C Byrd who was there as Dem Maj Leader during 70's under Carter and there as Appropriations Ranking Dem under Clinton kept WVa as a Dem state. When Gore and Kerry were nominated, Byrd torch wasnt passed to anymore Dems until Manchin, who is a blue dog. Since then, NH and Iowa and NM has replaced WVa as Dem strongholds. NH was more conservative when WVa was a blue dog state, under Sununus.

How the heck is Iowa more Democratic? I can understand perhaps NM and NH but Iowa? No.

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

Tom Harkin won multiple elections there and he was the second most liberal Senator to Sherrod Brown. Gore did carry Iowa. And Culver & Tom Vilsak were elected govs.

Iowa is a purple, not red state.

[hopper]

It was always a Dixiecrat state, but Robert C Byrd kept it in the Democratic column, and so did Jay Rockefeller.  It voted for Carter, LBJ, JFK, Truman & Clinton. It became a GOP, after Byrd.

Yeah at the state level WV became GOP after Byrd died.

[RINO Tom]

It was always a Dixiecrat state, but Robert C Byrd kept it in the Democratic column, and so did Jay Rockefeller.  It voted for Carter, LBJ, JFK, Truman & Clinton. It became a GOP, after Byrd.

Yeah at the state level WV became GOP after Byrd died.

It's still not "GOP" at the state level.

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

Its a blue dog state.

[Young Conservative]

WV is repulsed by these factors in the new Democratic coalition:

1. Environmentalism
2. Urban appeal over rural appeal
3. Cultural Populism vs Elitism
4. Social Liberalism

Those are the big reasons for why WV has flipped.

Yes. WV is very religious, over 92% white, and is very working class. All major indicators of Republicanism and conservatism. In fact, their democrats are super conservative. Joe Manchin is more conservative than many republicans and even wants to abolish the EPA

[Rockefeller GOP]

WV is repulsed by these factors in the new Democratic coalition:

1. Environmentalism
2. Urban appeal over rural appeal
3. Cultural Populism vs Elitism
4. Social Liberalism

Those are the big reasons for why WV has flipped.

Yes. WV is very religious, over 92% white, and is very working class. All major indicators of Republicanism and conservatism. In fact, their democrats are super conservative. Joe Manchin is more conservative than many republicans and even wants to abolish the EPA

When will this stupid meme die, NO HE IS NOT!

Also, being working class is NOT an indicator of Republicanism.  Being White and (now a days) Southern, on the other hand, is.

I can tell you're young.

[hopper]

WV is repulsed by these factors in the new Democratic coalition:

1. Environmentalism
2. Urban appeal over rural appeal
3. Cultural Populism vs Elitism
4. Social Liberalism

Those are the big reasons for why WV has flipped.

Yes. WV is very religious, over 92% white, and is very working class. All major indicators of Republicanism and conservatism. In fact, their democrats are super conservative. Joe Manchin is more conservative than many republicans and even wants to abolish the EPA

The closest Republican to Manchin is Susan Collins of Maine in terms of DW-Nominate Score.

[SATW]

It was always a Dixiecrat state, but Robert C Byrd kept it in the Democratic column, and so did Jay Rockefeller.  It voted for Carter, LBJ, JFK, Truman & Clinton. It became a GOP, after Byrd.

Yeah at the state level WV became GOP after Byrd died.

It's still not "GOP" at the state level.

Yes it is. The GOP has both chambers of the state legislature now.

[DINGO Joe]

It was always a Dixiecrat state, but Robert C Byrd kept it in the Democratic column, and so did Jay Rockefeller.  It voted for Carter, LBJ, JFK, Truman & Clinton. It became a GOP, after Byrd.

Yeah at the state level WV became GOP after Byrd died.

It's still not "GOP" at the state level.

Yes it is. The GOP has both chambers of the state legislature now.

And they've done wonders with the place.

Again, the story of WV is coal and whatever Byrd could drag into the state.  Without that it's just a place to take care of the elderly, disabled and drug addicts until they die.

[Rockefeller GOP]

It was always a Dixiecrat state, but Robert C Byrd kept it in the Democratic column, and so did Jay Rockefeller.  It voted for Carter, LBJ, JFK, Truman & Clinton. It became a GOP, after Byrd.

Yeah at the state level WV became GOP after Byrd died.

It's still not "GOP" at the state level.

Yes it is. The GOP has both chambers of the state legislature now.

It's split.  If Republicans take the governor's mansion, it'll be one-party rule.

[VPH]

It was always a Dixiecrat state, but Robert C Byrd kept it in the Democratic column, and so did Jay Rockefeller.  It voted for Carter, LBJ, JFK, Truman & Clinton. It became a GOP, after Byrd.

Yeah at the state level WV became GOP after Byrd died.

It's still not "GOP" at the state level.

Yes it is. The GOP has both chambers of the state legislature now.

And they've done wonders with the place.

Again, the story of WV is coal and whatever Byrd could drag into the state.  Without that it's just a place to take care of the elderly, disabled and drug addicts until they die.

That's a good way to keep losing elections. Idk if you're a Democrat or not, but folks in the national party deride Red-state blue-collar Americans and then wonder why they lose. Surprise!

[Rockefeller GOP]

WV is repulsed by these factors in the new Democratic coalition:

1. Environmentalism
2. Urban appeal over rural appeal
3. Cultural Populism vs Elitism
4. Social Liberalism

Those are the big reasons for why WV has flipped.

Yes. WV is very religious, over 92% white, and is very working class. All major indicators of Republicanism and conservatism. In fact, their democrats are super conservative. Joe Manchin is more conservative than many republicans and even wants to abolish the EPA

Um, no. There are no conservative Democrats left in the Senate. THIS is what happens when the Democrats nominate a conservative Democrat who is more conservative than the Republican candidate: The national party ignores and abandons him.

There never were any conservative Democrats in the Senate, at least not how the 18-year old lazy historians on this site understand the term.

[Oldiesfreak1854]

First of all, West Virginia is still mostly Democrat at the state level.  Dems control the governor's office and most of the other statewide executive positions.  It's only becoming a red state in presidential elections, although I suspect the GOP will eventually become strong in statewide contests as well.

As for the question, the biggest factor driving the Republican trend there is coal mining, and Democrat's perceived hostility to it.  The fact that West Virginia is also a rural, religious, populist, socially conservative state has a lot to do with it as well.  And before you blame the anti-Obama sentiment there on racism, let me remind you that this trend began before Obama was elected--Bush carried the state twice, after all.

[DINGO Joe]

It was always a Dixiecrat state, but Robert C Byrd kept it in the Democratic column, and so did Jay Rockefeller.  It voted for Carter, LBJ, JFK, Truman & Clinton. It became a GOP, after Byrd.

Yeah at the state level WV became GOP after Byrd died.

It's still not "GOP" at the state level.

Yes it is. The GOP has both chambers of the state legislature now.

And they've done wonders with the place.

Again, the story of WV is coal and whatever Byrd could drag into the state.  Without that it's just a place to take care of the elderly, disabled and drug addicts until they die.

That's a good way to keep losing elections. Idk if you're a Democrat or not, but folks in the national party deride Red-state blue-collar Americans and then wonder why they lose. Surprise!

Well, I pretty much routinely vote D, and while my job is that of a pencil pusher, I have knowledge of the work and even some interaction with those who work at the port, the railroads, offshore on oil and gas rigs, and at power plants.  Given my location (New Orleans), I have never been in an actual working coal mine, but I have enough knowledge to know it's as tough if not tougher than any of those jobs (actually working at a NG power plant is pretty easy).

As for who I'd vote for if I were in an Appalachian coal state, I don't care if their name is Manchin or Caputo, or Bevin or Conway, or the worst of all McConell, they are all huge bags of excrement, and not cow or pig from which something can grow, but magical excrement from which nothing will grow.  As for the other assorted local politicans is doesn't matter if they are D or R (or frequently Ds who switch to Rs) they are the same.  Instead of dumb and dumber they are coal and coaler..

The core of the issue for WV and adjacent coal regions in KY and VA are that they are obsolete.  First they lost jobs to technology, then to other coal regions, and then to natural gas in conjunction with technology all at the same time, their coal has been played out, seams are thinner or further down.  Have they ever faced the reality that their economic competitiveness has them staring at the abyss?  Why should they when they can just bleat "Obama" and "war on coal".  Look at the post further up which shows the age of power plants by fuel type.  Did they ever wonder why so many NG plants were built in the decade before Obama was elected and why so many were in regions that were burning CAPP coal? (there was a break thru in NG electric generation technology called combined cycle)  Did they take note of fracking and the Marcellus (and now Utica) NG basins right in their own backyard and now Virginia, PA, NJ, Del and Ohio (but not WV) building NGCC power plants?  It's all been very methodical and economically  logical for the states doing this.

There is a whole other story involving metallurgical coal which is used for steel making and historically more lucrative and able to employ more miners per ton (though scarcer) but that story also has had a recent unpleasant turn having to do with Chinese demand sharply declining after a boom and once again leaving Appalachia (including Alabama this time) out of the money

Also, for all the rants about renewables taking jobs from coal miners, wind and solar have a tiny footprint in the regions that historically get Appalachian coal.  As predicted by the musical "Oklahoma", the Great Plains dominate wind generation and California and the Southwest dominate solar.  They certainly have cut into Western and Powder River Basin coal but that's another story.

Getting back to WV, it's gone from one of the youngest states in 1950 to the 3rd oldest now (and if you exclude the East Panhandle which has nothing to do with coal 2nd oldest).  The oldest state is of course Florida which attracts an endless supply of healthy and wealthy elderly something you won't find in WV.  WV has the highest rate of people on disability of any state and it has the highest rate of people dying by drug overdose.  Because of it's age and unhealthiness it has the highest death rate of any state by a wide margin.  Hence my remark which you responded to.  Sometime the truth hurts and none of the cowardly bags of elected excrement are  willing to talk about truth  (well, Kessler at least broaches the subject).  A governor's race between Justice and Cole would  basically a death sentence for the state and even an honest governor and state lege would be facing pretty hefty odds.

I know Obama had proposed a financial package to try and address the problem of attracting jobs to a region no employers are interested in, but the Rs in Congress chose to ignore it (even with all the goodies included in the great compromise), and Hillary has proposed an even bigger package, but I don't know why the Rs would go for that either.  I don't know how effective it would be, but in the interim, each year that goes by the region will get older, poorer, probably more drug addled and more dead.

[Hillary pays minimum wage]

It was always a Dixiecrat state, but Robert C Byrd kept it in the Democratic column, and so did Jay Rockefeller.  It voted for Carter, LBJ, JFK, Truman & Clinton. It became a GOP, after Byrd.

Yeah at the state level WV became GOP after Byrd died.

It's still not "GOP" at the state level.

Yes it is. The GOP has both chambers of the state legislature now.

And they've done wonders with the place.

Again, the story of WV is coal and whatever Byrd could drag into the state.  Without that it's just a place to take care of the elderly, disabled and drug addicts until they die.

That's a good way to keep losing elections. Idk if you're a Democrat or not, but folks in the national party deride Red-state blue-collar Americans and then wonder why they lose. Surprise!

Well, I pretty much routinely vote D, and while my job is that of a pencil pusher, I have knowledge of the work and even some interaction with those who work at the port, the railroads, offshore on oil and gas rigs, and at power plants.  Given my location (New Orleans), I have never been in an actual working coal mine, but I have enough knowledge to know it's as tough if not tougher than any of those jobs (actually working at a NG power plant is pretty easy).

As for who I'd vote for if I were in an Appalachian coal state, I don't care if their name is Manchin or Caputo, or Bevin or Conway, or the worst of all McConell, they are all huge bags of excrement, and not cow or pig from which something can grow, but magical excrement from which nothing will grow.  As for the other assorted local politicans is doesn't matter if they are D or R (or frequently Ds who switch to Rs) they are the same.  Instead of dumb and dumber they are coal and coaler..

The core of the issue for WV and adjacent coal regions in KY and VA are that they are obsolete.  First they lost jobs to technology, then to other coal regions, and then to natural gas in conjunction with technology all at the same time, their coal has been played out, seams are thinner or further down.  Have they ever faced the reality that their economic competitiveness has them staring at the abyss?  Why should they when they can just bleat "Obama" and "war on coal".  Look at the post further up which shows the age of power plants by fuel type.  Did they ever wonder why so many NG plants were built in the decade before Obama was elected and why so many were in regions that were burning CAPP coal? (there was a break thru in NG electric generation technology called combined cycle)  Did they take note of fracking and the Marcellus (and now Utica) NG basins right in their own backyard and now Virginia, PA, NJ, Del and Ohio (but not WV) building NGCC power plants?  It's all been very methodical and economically  logical for the states doing this.

There is a whole other story involving metallurgical coal which is used for steel making and historically more lucrative and able to employ more miners per ton (though scarcer) but that story also has had a recent unpleasant turn having to do with Chinese demand sharply declining after a boom and once again leaving Appalachia (including Alabama this time) out of the money

Also, for all the rants about renewables taking jobs from coal miners, wind and solar have a tiny footprint in the regions that historically get Appalachian coal.  As predicted by the musical "Oklahoma", the Great Plains dominate wind generation and California and the Southwest dominate solar.  They certainly have cut into Western and Powder River Basin coal but that's another story.

Getting back to WV, it's gone from one of the youngest states in 1950 to the 3rd oldest now (and if you exclude the East Panhandle which has nothing to do with coal 2nd oldest).  The oldest state is of course Florida which attracts an endless supply of healthy and wealthy elderly something you won't find in WV.  WV has the highest rate of people on disability of any state and it has the highest rate of people dying by drug overdose.  Because of it's age and unhealthiness it has the highest death rate of any state by a wide margin.  Hence my remark which you responded to.  Sometime the truth hurts and none of the cowardly bags of elected excrement are  willing to talk about truth  (well, Kessler at least broaches the subject).  A governor's race between Justice and Cole would  basically a death sentence for the state and even an honest governor and state lege would be facing pretty hefty odds.

I know Obama had proposed a financial package to try and address the problem of attracting jobs to a region no employers are interested in, but the Rs in Congress chose to ignore it (even with all the goodies included in the great compromise), and Hillary has proposed an even bigger package, but I don't know why the Rs would go for that either.  I don't know how effective it would be, but in the interim, each year that goes by the region will get older, poorer, probably more drug addled and more dead.

it's guns

[Virginiá]

I know Obama had proposed a financial package to try and address the problem of attracting jobs to a region no employers are interested in, but the Rs in Congress chose to ignore it (even with all the goodies included in the great compromise), and Hillary has proposed an even bigger package, but I don't know why the Rs would go for that either.  I don't know how effective it would be, but in the interim, each year that goes by the region will get older, poorer, probably more drug addled and more dead.

They wouldn't. If they had a Republican in the White House who could claim credit for it (as the people benefiting from it would give most of the credit to basically whoever was in the white house, as is usual), and had a reasonable belief that such a financial package would benefit them politically, they would probably do some sort of relief. Otherwise, if the poor, drug addicted citizens will continue voting for them, it's irrelevant. I don't say this necessarily out of bias against the GOP, but because they showed no desire to help the American people in the middle of the recession. No compromise on infrastructure spending to create jobs/help economy, almost all Republicans voted against the stimulus, etc.

If they wouldn't help America in general then, I can't see why they would help Appalachia now unless there were political dividends to be had.

[Hillary pays minimum wage]

I know Obama had proposed a financial package to try and address the problem of attracting jobs to a region no employers are interested in, but the Rs in Congress chose to ignore it (even with all the goodies included in the great compromise), and Hillary has proposed an even bigger package, but I don't know why the Rs would go for that either.  I don't know how effective it would be, but in the interim, each year that goes by the region will get older, poorer, probably more drug addled and more dead.

They wouldn't. If they had a Republican in the White House who could claim credit for it (as the people benefiting from it would give most of the credit to basically whoever was in the white house, as is usual), and had a reasonable belief that such a financial package would benefit them politically, they would probably do some sort of relief. Otherwise, if the poor, drug addicted citizens will continue voting for them, it's irrelevant. I don't say this necessarily out of bias against the GOP, but because they showed no desire to help the American people in the middle of the recession. No compromise on infrastructure spending to create jobs/help economy, almost all Republicans voted against the stimulus, etc.

If they wouldn't help America in general then, I can't see why they would help Appalachia now unless there were political dividends to be had.

The free market is the only way to get out of any economic hole.