In The Coal Counties Of Central Appalachia, Will Trump's Promises Come True?

[Dulcinea]

On May 5, 2016, Donald Trump led a campaign rally in Charleston, W.Va.

He put on a hard hat and pretended he was shoveling coal. The crowd loved it. And he made a promise — a variation on one he'd been making throughout the campaign — to coal miners.

"Get ready," he told them. "Because you're going to be working your asses off!" With that, he set himself apart from his opponent, Hillary Clinton.

In a moment that is now considered to be one of the biggest mistakes of her campaign, just two months before, Clinton infamously told a town hall in Ohio: "We're going to put a lot of coal miners and coal companies out of business."

That quote was part of a larger plan to reinvest $30 billion in the region. But the only thing most folks heard was "out of business."

In the end, the coal counties of central Appalachia voted overwhelmingly for Trump. (Though they didn't decide the election for Trump. White people without a college education, namely in Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania did that.)

https://www.npr.org/2018/05/09/607273500/in-the-coal-counties-of-central-appalachia-will-trump-s-promises-come-true

[guillaumeb]

1. Clinton was telling the truth.

Trump lied.

Obviously many voters prefer a comforting lie to the truth.

[elleng]

7. Yes she was but she did it badly,

her message sounded purely negative to those voters who heard it, and it's been used as a sound bite against her ever since.

[guillaumeb]

9. It could have been framed better, agreed. eom

[dameatball]

2. Coal production has declined since the 1920's. Even during WW2, believe it or not.

There was a brief upswing mid-70's, but other than that it has been slowly downhill. Increased technology has also played a large part to reduce the necessary manpower.
What people in Appalachia need to realize is that the good old days are gone. New skills are needed to make a living. Relocation may be necessary. But it seems they just keep getting fooled into thinking coal is coming back. Over regulation by the EPA is not what is killing coal.

[LSFL]

3. i live in Appalachia

It is mostly old people who think thr coal jobs can come back. The kids dont want a shitty mining job. I have never heard anyone under 50 wax lyrical about coal.
But guess which demographic votes the most.

[Wellstone ruled]

4. You are living with a true reality.

White folks over 50, darn if some of us have seen this story before. Ask anyone who grew up in the Logging and Iron Ore Mining States. Same picture just a different day,change is hard to handle for many.

BTW,one of the Mega Utilities on the Eastern Seaboard announced they are building new Gas Fired Plants and retrofitting Coal Burners to Gas. Stupid use of Capital. Should be Solar and Wind Power.

[SCantiGOP]

5. Southern states in the 60s and 70s

Tried multiple strategies to “save” their textile jobs even though every economist knew that their migration to Mexico was a certainty because of labor costs.
Those were the textile plants that had been in New England 50 years before, and were destined to eventually leave Mexico for the even cheaper climate of China and SE Asia.

[Wellstone ruled]

6. Oh how well I know.

One of my many Part Time Jobs was running a Mens and Boys Wear Distribution Center in the Mid West. This Company had nine sewing centers along Interstate 35 south to Texas. Still remember the day Gulf Oil Company Houston came in a bought the Company lock stock and barrel on leveraged debt. With in one year,the company was gone,moved to Japan. And then later to China. Gulf Oil captured tens of millions in Tax Credits and millions more in Royalties and Licensing of the brand name. Mean while,some fourteen thousand jobs left town.

Have to say,most of the sewing plants were running with the latest Technology at the time. Robotics were just being tested at the time. It was all about the Asset Mining and nothing more.

[BlueDog22]

8. Coal

I come from coal mining stock. My momma was a coal miners daughter from Appalachia and grew up in a holler....

With that said, coal mining is dead. It is an inefficient energy source and it's only use these days is in steel, which is made less and less in the United States. It's time to move on. No amount of wishing is going to bring it back.

[SharonAnn]

10. Next he can work on bring back buggy whip manufacturing!