http://photoblog.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/04/23/11355138-appalachia-struggles-to-overcome-poverty?liteThese are some really sad pictures. And the juxtaposition of the evening dresses and tuxedos against the grim, almost Dickensian backdrop makes them even more dramatic. 41.5% living in poverty - it's almost as if the twentieth and twenty-first centuries passed these people by and left none of their growth or prosperity behind.
They're also a very Republican bunch:
2008: McCain 76% / Obama 23%
2004: Bush 78% / Kerry 22%
2000: Bush 80% / Gore 19%
1996: Dole 53% / Clinton 37% / Perot 9%
1992: Bush 61% / Clinton 29% / Perot 9%
1988: Bush 79% / Dukakis 21%
1984: Reagan 79% / Mondale 20%
1980: Reagan 74% / Carter 26%
1976: Ford 77% / Carter 22%
1972: Nixon 84% / McGovern 16%
1968: Nixon 76% / Humphrey 16% / Wallace 8%
1964: Goldwater 67% / Johnson 33%
1960: Nixon 86% / Kennedy 14%
As far as I can tell, they have voted Republican in every election since the Civil War.
