This article conflates Appalachia with rural AMerica. There's more diversity in both than is potrayed here.

I spent 12 years in Ohio. At Ohio State, Appalachian whites are considered a minority and get minority scholarships, the works. In Columbus and Cinncinati, I met people who definitely knew blacks and identified with blacks (especially because of the treatment of Appalachian whites in Cinncinnati). They were treated in a very racial way in the school district. Kozol's book really did a good job of describing that.

Appalachians need jobs. That's the bottom line. Obama can talk to them about jobs and access. I know plenty of people across America who disdain education (That's why one of the most famous books in the profession of History is about American disdain for education Hofstadler's Anti-intellectualism in American Life (1963)).

We need to stop seeing Appalachia as "other" and stop stereotyping. Period. Stereotyping is lazy.

Racism doesn not necessarily mean that people can not be reached. Some hard core irrationalists won't be reachable, but a good many will. If the Obama campaign sent black and white service people and veterans in uniform to Appalachia to ring doorbells, it would make a BIG difference. The military is one place where we do interact across race.

It's not a problem. It's an opportunity if seen with the right eyes.

Thanks for your response. I can't speak to the situation in south Georgia because that is not Appalachia and I don't know much about it. But I would point out that while 2 in 10 Kentuckians said race was a factor, 1 in 10 Oregonians also said race was a factor. I don't see a whole lot of difference except that you have a slightly economically better off group in Oregon. But Oregon is painted as progressive and Kentucky and WV backward. But racism unfortunately exists everywhere. Perhaps the racists should just be written off and Obama will never get them no matter what. But I do know that when Jesse Jackson ran in eastern Kentucky during his presidential campaign, he had way better numbers than Obama has had, and drew great crowds in eastern KY. Because he was there. I hope after the primaries Obama will feel more free to go on the offensive and take it to the people.

And who started the name-calling? 'Tweren't any Democrats! You look around at how much attention is being paid, in "rural" America and elsewhere, to Nascar burn-gasoline-faster events, to what Red Sox memorabilia got buried under Steinbrenner's new playhouse, etc. And it's easy to wonder if some folks just have too much time on their hands. They should be working. And since they might not be, then those unemployment stats are even more bogus than I thought! Study "rural" issues and economies, as I have/do, and you'll find a bit of desperation. Small-town people struggle to save, not define, their places. If every business is a monolithic, Walmart-esque, corporate juggernaut located 1,500 or more miles away, the word "dependence" makes mince meat of Jefferson's Declaration. As for "social" issues, well, there's graffiti in places like Guymon, OK, just like Peoria or Atlanta. If rurals think electing Republicans helps them, then they should go whole-hog and send the deed to the ranch in to the Pentagon. They'd probably be able to use the 160 acres to practice tank warfare, after all. Ueber alles, that's the ticket.

FYI latest Bureau of Labor statistics for state unemployment rates:

Kentucky 5.6%

Oregon 5.5%

And Oregon has serious employment issues in rural areas as well, not least because of the logging industry. So it presumably is something other than jobs that is driving this.

I wouldn't paint Oregon as being equivalent to an Appalachian state - the political dynamics there are weird, because as far as I can tell, there a lot of "progressives" and a lot of conservative libertarians, and not a whole lot in between. To what extent that affected the survey response rate that you mentioned, I wouldn't know.

Actually, without wanting to get too far off topic, you could make an argument that plenty of politicians and journalists don't really know that much about the west either - just that they are less openly derisive of it.

I posted this before...someone I know who is elderly is from rural South Georgia (and white). She was surprised when she visited her family and all her sibs and friends were for Obama. These are not people who are liberals. But they are ready to vote for Obama (assuming of course, he does not get destroyed by the Clinton-cum-McCain machines). Not only ready, but excited to do so.

There is a sea-change. Maybe it wasn't apparent in a couple of states but look at what Obama needed to push against...

The sooner we git-to-work the better off we all are.

In his Countdown interview:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036677/

[scroll to "Webb a possible V.P.?"]

Basically saying that these "hillbillies" (not that he used this term, which is offensive to many, even if people use it in jest amongst themselves)feel neglected, left out of the social justice movement.

But there's good reason, he says, for people in the demographic to work with other people with common interests...

For someone who writes commentary you'd think the author would not use the term "hillbillie" towards Kentucky voters. After all the term hillbillie is defined as a "Michigan farmer".

Another shallow analysis that just relies on stereotypes and denial. If you want to talk about Blue collar workers and their position in the economy and politics you might want to ask a few more questions. Those questions might provide more insight than what you learned in a poli sci class.

I am tired of asking this question, but there is a HUGE difference in terms of policy of how middle class is defined. Hilary, despite her propaganda, thinks it is above 100K. I am continually astounded that a "responsible" media outlet continues to ignore this problem. When half of all American families make less than the median income of 42k, how is that not a news story?

Is this all you can aspire to?