“We’re going to put a lot of coal miners and coal companies out of business.” – Hillary Clinton
Yes, that’s exactly what Hillary Clinton said in March about the coal industry. She was following the Obama policy of shutting down the coal industry at all costs. She has since said she would spend federal dollars to retrain coal miners to do another job. The problem is that these men don’t want to do that. The American people and voters in West Virginia had better realize what the loss of the coal industry would mean…
THIS IS PART OF A PIECE FROM THE NEW YORK TIMES SO READER BEWARE OF LIBERAL SPIN AND LIES HERE AND THERE…
POWELLTON, W.Va. — Deep in the belly of an Appalachian mountain, a powerful machine bored into the earth, its whirring teeth clawing out a stream of glistening coal. Men followed inside the Maple Eagle No. 1 mine, their torches cutting through the dank air. One guided the machine with a PlayStation-like controller; others bolted supports in the freshly cut roof.
They were angry. The coal industry that made West Virginia prosperous has been devastated. Every day, it seemed, another mine laid off workers or closed entirely. Friends were forfeiting their cars, homes and futures.
For these men, this season’s presidential campaign boils down to a single choice. “I’m for Trump,” said Dwayne Riston, 27, his face smeared in dust. “Way I see it, if he wins, we might at least stand a chance of surviving.”
Few places in America offer such a simple electoral calculus as the rolling, tree-studded hills of West Virginia.
Even as Donald J. Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, lags badly in crucial swing states and loses his grip on white male voters over all, he remains on solid ground here with his promise to “bring back coal.” The fact that his Democrat opponent, Hillary Clinton, said in March, “We’re going to put a lot of coal miners and coal companies out of business,” has helped, too.
But this is not just about economics. West Virginia’s coal country is part of the broader white, working-class vote that has coalesced around a single candidate, Mr. Trump, like never before. His support here stems from a profound, decades-in-the-making sense of political and cultural alienation that has left people feeling distant from their leaders, and even from fellow Americans.
“I kind of feel that people are looking down on us,” said Neil Hanshew, a miner, voicing a common sentiment. “They’re looking at us like we’re a bunch of dumb hillbillies who can’t do anything else.”
Read more: NYT
