But it doesn't mean that progressive politics cannot present real options to people in Appalachia etc who still deal with incredible poverty and lack of opportunities. Instead of people like Bill Maher saying that coal should die, there's no transitional plan to new industries or new careers. Yes, coal is not sustainable as the basis of a state's economy, and both Dem and GOPs are to blame for letting people think it will be.
I agree with you in principle, but Democrats blew it in West Virginia. They neglected to seriously address that state's issues and eventually the people got fed up. The writing was on the wall at the turn of the century and yet they did nothing worth mentioning. It's like they thought that because WV had such a pro-Democratic history, that they didn't have to do anything.
My thoughts are this: If Democrats have no intention to truly push
hard for solutions to Appalachia's problems, then they need to do those people a favor and come clean about exactly what priority they are going to get.
It's a bit perplexing too, because a large monetary investment in infrastructure
(for jobs at least), retraining and smart policies to attract businesses/some manufacturing could have helped the people a lot, but alas there was nothing.
Poll
