Maybe they see him as elitist and condescending -- just like this article. Or maybe they're smarter than the author thinks and they see through his phoniness.

I suspect they value experience and hard work, and find that Clinton understands their issues.

And I understand.

Keep the support for the right. They understand.

The article makes great statistical points but doesn't really get at the heart of the issue. Hillary Clinton's policies are virtually the same as Obama's. She has the same upper class, elite credentials, so... why the lopsided support for her over Obama? It is not just a rural issue, that only explains a part of the issue for this democrat, for Barack Obama, who actually shares similar class and family traits with the "hillbillies"

There are so many underlying premises of this article that are problematic, where to begin?

- Democrats are not uniquely out of touch with rural Americans, and in fact, Republicans surely are far more out of touch with them despite their pandering (tax cuts for the wealthiest 1% anyone?)

- Rural voters are not all white, and in fact, it's probably safe to say that Obama's got the very sizeable black rural vote all tied up by now. This article seems to examine politics through the lens of white rural voters, which is fair, but it would be nice that lens was openly acknowledged.

- Of all the 2008 candidates from any party, Obama has campaigned in and visited the most places, period, in this race. He is a single individual and cannot visit every single place, rural or otherwise, but he has visited plenty of rural locales since beginning his campaign, and Obama is the only one to run a 50-state campaign all along. He has spoken directly to more voters than anyone in this campaign, period.

- Obama's preference for Oregon today over Kentucky is likely born of his very practical mathematical need to win big in Oregon today so he could get the nomination finally tied up. If I lived in Kentucky, I wouldn't take it personally.

- While I reject all the blather about rural and urban stereotypes, especially the more hateful blather, we must admit that stereotypes come from somewhere and there is often a distorted truth buried somewhere inside them. The point is to accurately identify and separate truth from myth, to learn from it, to examine the root causes, and to not judge others that are different from us. Urbanites are not all elitists, but there are some who are; rural residents are not all uneducated racists and xenophobes, but there are some who are. Why is it so hard to acknowledge this? And why is it so hard to treat all people with respect despite this?

- No single group of voters is better or more deserving of attention by our political class. No one. We are all Americans and all deserve equal rights in this democracy. I reject this artifical urban vs rural divide.

Bill Clinton. Ha! Just joking.

Ok, only partly joking.

Seriously, though, about any preacher will do. Rev. Wright, probably hurt Obama less back home than just about anywhere--we're all pretty used to being yelled at by overly indignant preachers.

If people in Appalachia had any idea at all about what it is going to take to make America successful in the 21st century, Appalachia wouldn't look like Appalachia. Of course, that wouldn't be a problem if we weren't stuck with this antiquated, anti-democratic Electoral College system which forces the rest of us to pander to the ignorant.

"It sucks. It's like an elephant herd. We can only go as fast as the slowest member. It's maddening sometimes."

But the clock is ticking on this country, lbd. If McCain wins this election, America is done, as simple as that. Just how long can the US wait for folks to catch up--especially when it seems like they have made up their minds and are so marinated in Fox/right-wing think they don't want to even meet liberals halfway? (In fact, if said people are still this oblivious and stubborn after eight years of disastrous GOP polices that are destroying their lives, will they _ever_ catch up?) A couple of other posters have said this already, but I'll repeat--respect goes both ways. Why should Obama make all the overtures and knock himself out campaigning if some rural voters can't look past Fox-generated stereotypes and give him the basic courtesy of just listening? It's ironic--some rural/winger voters who love to bash black folks for our so-called "grievance" mentality seem to be operating from an even worse (and less-factually-based) sense of persecution.

you wrote:

Shit! Nicky Joe is muslim-terroist-foreigner!?!?! No wonder he endorsed Obama.

my reply:

So why did Robert C. Byrd also endorse Obama?

I'm not interested in reaching an Obama supporter. Earlier, I was making a relevant political observation. Since you felt the need to address me...

From reading your other posts, you are a "dyke" (in your words) and happily left WV at age 28. You seem to really hate Hillary Clinton and think she only got where she is by her "marriage choices." I don't know what happened to you or care. You don't present rational arguments; you're another loud reactionary convinced of your own superiority with nothing to contribute. For example:

"Most people aren't very well-educated, live fairly insular lives and favor the TV as a learning tool."

"Oprah was not admitted to Hermes in Paris during store hours, although it was an hour before closing."

You are *very* uncool Cynthia, and since most of what you say is either tediously vapid and culled from the media v. personal experience or just a bunch of profane gobbledygook, please don't speak to me ever again.

Thank you for indulging me.

If you were Obama, is there a person of color you could suggest he study, that has the right communicative abilities to penetrate the mountain culture?

As an early poster pointed out - when are we going to hear about how Republicans don't seek urban votes and don't understand urban sensibilities and what a liability that will prove for them? Oh, but then as per the MSM, we're aren't real Americans. So quit your whining, hillbillies. At least you're regarded as real Americans unlike all us libs in Chicago, New York, Baltimore, Boston, Los Angeles, Detroit, Atlanta, Cleveland, Washington, Seattle, St. Louis, Portland, Madison, Berkeley etc. etc. etc.