The Voters of Appalachia …

Everyone in Appalachia is not poor, without indoor plumbing, illiterate or "living off the land". Your reader comments reflect the bias that I (as a native of Chattanooga, Tennessee) have dealt with for my entire 66 years on this earth. I have lived in Atlanta, Georgia and Vienna, Austria and encountered it in both places. Some of your readers referred to us as "those people" as if we are aliens from space. Please visit Appalachia and do not rely on cartoons and television shows for your information.

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Good article. I grew up in WV and came back after 20 years. It's even nicer than when I left. I've been teased about being inbred, going around barefoot, and my all-time favorite, having a tail! LOL, I always threaten to show the scar where it was removed. On a more serious note, Obama did nothing to sell himself here, yet he still received 1/3 of the vote. Many people here do NOT want McCain (or as we all call it, The Bush Trilogy), but they feel like they don't know Obama either. Considering he's doing nothing to make his case, he'll be his own downfall here--not the people. Kennedy won over people here, and Obama stands almost as good a chance. But he needs to BE here, and let people get to know him and not his ads.

The answer is D.

I believe the writer may have insulted his home Appalachian population more than the candidates did. It reads like a threat in some instances. I hope the people themselves are not so narrow-minded, and one-minded, and can only vote for whomever as a whole. I hope the people there do not believe the writer's vision of them, or that they will only vote for a candidate who understands them - or looks like them. I hope the people vote for the candidate that they feel will return America back into a respected country.

But if the writer is correct, our McCain is lucky. All he would need to do is mention the the area in a positive way, and he'll get the vote. Ms. Clinton was right about one thing, they may vote for who is more like them.

In order to have big winners economically there have to be big losers as well. I doubt that anyone would pretend that all that lobbying money being spent in Washington to influence legislation to give advanage to the few at the expense of the many doesn't have an impact on poverty in our nation.
The truth is our society is badly out of balance and government has helped increase the problem by helping the rich at the expense of the poor.
Many poor people work two or three jobs and still can't get ahead. There is much talk of glass ceilings without recognizing that our government has been pushing down on the poor, while giving a hand up to the rich, while many in the "middle class" live one major medical expense or job loss away from poverty as well.
Courting reality should be what is taking place in this election rather than merely moving for constituency to constituency with some grand plan to get them to vote one way or the other.

The people of Appalachia in my eyes are not poor, they are the richest America has to offer in the sense that they live the simple life and i think need to be left to live the way they want w/o government interference. These people live of the land and are very happy, America needs to take note of these people as we will all be living off the land like them soon
city people and politicians think money can buy livetime value and morals.
obama will do nothing for these people but further isolate and starve them ,
How could you even dream of putting a higher tax on these people like obama wants to
him and michelle think they need to share thier wealth with the rest of America?

Fascinating article, but I will never understand why some topnotch sociologist does not examine this region and publish. Appalachia is changing rapidly with Floridians and northern folks piling in this beautiful place with moderate winters and low prices. I was born here, left to go to college and work, then retired here 50 years later. The US government hired me to go to 3rd world countries and help natives whose poor living conditions were not as bad as those seen in the hollers. Many people here trace their ancestry back to the Revolutionary War, and resent know-it-all folks from the outside who arrive in America and immediately start giving orders. There's a culture here not seen outside. It needs to be documented more thoroughly. Relocation is not always the answer.

Hello, thanks for the interesting article.

HolyRoller has spent an inordinate amount of time fixating on rumor and innuendo. Running down a list of names and offering that as evidence is in my opinion being quite lazy. If you are interested in having our country return to prosperity then I would think you would be interested in details like, the tax plan that Sen. McCain offers versus the one that Sen. Obama offers. Under McCain's plan, he and his wife would save $373,429 per YEAR . Under Sen. Obama's plan the McCain's would save less than $6000.00. The Obama'a would save nearly $50,000 under McCain's plan and they would save slightly more than $6000 under the Obama plan. It is clear that Sen. Obama proposes a plan that would benefit more working class people and McCains would benefit the more wealthy in this country. Why would you be so willing to believe lies that will only make life harder for all of us, and refuse to face the facts about the current republican party.

I love Appalachia. I grew up in big cities from Tampa to New York. In 1992, I came to Appalachian State University, in Boone, NC, to study. I ain't left. Tried to a few times, I reckon; but, always made it back to live in some hollar where you can hear the birds and smell the breeze. Sometimes it smells like a stable but that's ok. A stable smells better than carbon emissions. I am voting for a Black man for president. Republican politics only serve the interests of the wealthy few. They have lost touch with common folk. They are going to kill humanity with their carbon policies so that wallets and Bank accounts get fatter. Meanwhile a lot of mountain folks ain't got a pot to piss in.

Hear me now and listen to me later. As they used to say back in my neck of the woods, "Don't cut off your nose to spite your face." The Republican agenda is to make the wealthy even more wealthy and at the expense of cutting your Social Security and Medicare entitlements. Now you can *** and moan about this wine and brie black man all you want but when it comes down to saving your bacon, he truly is your man. McCain is not coming to your aid. When did a Republican ever help the middle or lower class? Answer: just about never. Like it or not, friends, you can take this one to the bank.

: This short video has gone from ~200 to ~3000 in a couple of hrs. Watch if you dare, obamamohammeds. Getting uglier and uglier.....................................
........................................ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gDgc6tZTBpk ......................

OBAMAMOHAMMEDS....Use caution...Does not mix well with Kool-Aide........................................

NOBAMA!!!

I grew up in W.Va. and left when I finished college. I live in New Mexico. I appreciate the focus of this article. I was recently in W.Va. and found a wide range of opinion, but an unfortunate lack of information. While I stongly support Obama, i think he will be a hard sell in W.Va. Though I am white, i tan darkly, and was excluded from a local diner in my youth on the basis of mistaken belief about my race. That is not so long ago, and the decent salt of the earth population of the state will be tested this election like no other. The Kennedy test was passed in 1960 in the primary, in which I was deeply involved. Watch W.Ve. for its possible racist subtext.

Well, Effyou, that's an interesting idea. Sell your vote, do you?

Here, holy, I'll just use a few words then.
Mc Cain't. Mc Ancient. No way to count on him to stay alert for eight years. Too risky.

I grew up on a farm and lived in St George, Elkins and Wheeling WV. Along the way I learned to read and write. What I learned in Sunday school was that all men are created equal. What I learned by reading is that Barack Obama is a Christian who was raised by his white grandparents and his white mother who were born and raised in Kansas. His maternal grandfather who raised him was in WWII. His father who was from Kenya returned to Kenya leaving his wife and son who was only 18 months old . Obama is not a muslim, has been a member of the Christian church for 23 years and is as American as "Holy"Roller and I. Enough with judging people by their names, skin color, and/or baseless rumors.. I am descended from the Scotch Irish who were shunned by the English "natives" 250 years ago. We are all Americans now-even "Holy"Roller!! Nana Jan

Well, if Appalachian culture is deemed localized and inbred then why. in France of all nations, line dancing and country festivals dot the landscape? Quebec supports a plethora of French country music :check Isabelle Boulay on the net. Bu,