Actions
(56.15 KB, 720x480)
(1.37 MB, 5066x3419)
In the meantime, consider something like this positive story in this publication.... it's quite a step.
I went back home to Ohio's Trump country. In Appalachia, honest people have hope again.
Jason Williams, Cincinnati Enquirer Published 11:44 a.m. ET Oct. 15, 2019 | Updated 11:53 a.m. ET Oct. 15, 2019
https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2019/10/15/democratic-debate-supporters-ohio-donald-trump-country-column/3984999002/
(archive is stuck "thinking" for some reason)
The assignment: Go back to the place where I grew up, here in the middle of Ohio's Appalachian region across the river from West Virginia, talk to family and friends and my hometown people and offer a perspective on the heart of Trump country that few others in the media can.
This poverty-stricken area, nestled amid the picturesque Appalachian foothills about 150 miles east of Cincinnati, continues to stand firm behind Trump. And rural Ohio very well could play a part in re-electing him, barring impeachment.
These folks already get made fun of enough for being from Appalachia. They're good, respectful people who are focused on taking care of their families. They want to be left alone. They don't care about stupid Twitter wars, and I don't want to be responsible for thrusting them into the vicious rhetorical crossfire between leftist activists and Trump sycophants.
I found that a lot of folks didn't want to talk about Trump. They didn't want to put themselves out there for fear of being verbally bludgeoned on Facebook and Twitter or in the grocery store or even at church.
And those who did want to talk, well, they seemed to speak for those who wanted to remain silent: They're tired of certain cable news networks and the leftist political class stereotyping them as a bunch of toothless, racist, backwoods rubes.
"I don't want to talk about it because you can't have an opinion unless it's their opinion," an African American Trump supporter said about the left. "Either you believe the way they believe, or you're a racist or a homophobe. The reason I'm working is because of what Trump's done. I just want to put my hard hat on and go to work every day."
The man, who added he's a registered Democrat, talked to Enquirer photographer Albert Cesare and me for nearly an hour on his front porch on a hot evening. He said a lady at his church had given him grief for supporting "racist" Trump, but the man said he's seen no hard evidence that's true.
The man then abruptly said he wanted no part of the story, stepped inside his house and closed the front door, leaving us sitting on the porch dumbfounded.
The truth is, these aren't a bunch of Bible-thumping hillbillies. I spoke with nearly 20 Trump supporters. Most of them didn't want to be quoted, but every single one of them said the No. 1 thing they like about Trump is he's focused on jobs. Nothing about Russia or building walls or locking anyone up.
I know it's hard for the out-of-touch political class that's obsessed with hating Trump and all his supporters to fathom this, but there aren't stereotypes on every street corner and dirt road here.
It's easy to see why the economy is top of mind. Gallia County is one of the poorest counties in the state. The power plants and the region's main hospital are among the few options for good-paying jobs.
But the residents have optimism like I haven't seen in a long time. Gallia County's unemployment rate is 5.6%, the lowest its been since 1979. Most of the storefronts in Gallipolis again have businesses. Some residents attribute that to Trump, though the economy was showing signs of rebounding before he was elected.