In The Hollow: The changing face of Appalachia in the presidential race
October 27, 2016 8:40 AM Subscribe
"I believe we are hearing the death cry of the G.O.P. in its current incarnation" Fantastic Chris Offutt Harper's essay on the disenfranchisement of the rural poor, how that fed into the rise of Trump, and the importance of education above all things.
"Much of Trump’s popularity is clearly based on the backlash against Barack Obama. His other great appeal is sexist. His opponent is a woman. Which group in this country has the lowest regard for women? It’s not poor Southern whites and blacks, many of whom rely on women to hold families together. It’s not people in the rust belt, where women have long toiled in factories alongside men, or in Montana, which in 1916 elected the first woman to Congress. The demographic I’m talking about is white conservative men who didn’t go to college and never miss church on Sundays. They are not limited to a particular region or class. They are everywhere. For a long time, I thought Trump was destroying the G.O.P. Now I think he’s exposing it."
"Much of Trump’s popularity is clearly based on the backlash against Barack Obama. His other great appeal is sexist. His opponent is a woman. Which group in this country has the lowest regard for women? It’s not poor Southern whites and blacks, many of whom rely on women to hold families together. It’s not people in the rust belt, where women have long toiled in factories alongside men, or in Montana, which in 1916 elected the first woman to Congress. The demographic I’m talking about is white conservative men who didn’t go to college and never miss church on Sundays. They are not limited to a particular region or class. They are everywhere. For a long time, I thought Trump was destroying the G.O.P. Now I think he’s exposing it."
This post was deleted for the following reason: Sorry, we're trying to corral all the election stuff in the current election thread; better to pop this as a link in there. -- LobsterMitten
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