Saying she has a tall task is very polite .
But one never knows these days.



Macy is, she stressed here more than once, “not a politician” — a useful thing to be able to say in the maiden candidacy of any would-be politician. Turning her candidacy into an actual spot in Congress figures to be a tall task. In a district that shoots north from Roanoke to the Loudoun County line along Interstate 81 and the Appalachians, she’s pitted against two other Democrats in next June’s primary — the winner of which gets to go up against a four-term incumbent in the Trump-endorsed Ben Cline. Potential mid-decade, Democratic-led redistricting could rejigger the map, but as it stands it’s a piece of political terrain that’s dependably elected a Republican for more than 30 years.

Macy is positioned ideologically as a socially progressive economic populist — a kind of new-era New Dealer who lives in a semi-urban speck of blue surrounded by so many shades of suburban and rural red. Her fledgling platform to my ear stems straight from the sort of super-story she’s been stitching together in her books — a “crisis of opportunity,” as she calls it, the wreckage wrought in small towns and rural regions by the consequences of the .......................

It's not a struggle. They consciously and deliberately vote for the people who are making their lives worse. I don't imagine they struggle at all over who they want to vote for.

And when they keep right on struggling in life, election cycle after election cycle after election cycle, they keep right on voting for the wrong candidates.

No more nose to cut off, I'm guessing.

Some struggle...

It’s not only the politics as you mentioned, but even in their personal lives (the reality is that many of them take no personal responsibility for their addiction to meth). I guess the smart ones simply leave.

And their politics are hard right. My guess is that the ones who recognize what's going on leave. But I don't think this is just an Appalachian problem. I think this a the same problem with much of rural America. They pretty much self-isolated. And up until the 70's this worked fine. The little towns were self-sufficient, little economies that worked well. But as the larger economies changed--and the older generation died--things started to change. The small towns became smaller. Kids went to college and never came back. This trend continued until the small town is nothing more than a place on a map. The people who live there either don't work or drive 20-30 minutes to their jobs. But everyone keeps voting Republican.

It's a Must Read for those of you (like me) who remain puzzled by the rightwing drift in small towns and rural areas from the '80s and beyond.

It's actually a well-tuned formula. First, kill the Unions, disempowering the working class and creating a minimum wage economy. Next, destroy local, independent media and fill the void with Limbaugh, Hannity, Fox News and rightwing radio preachers who incessantly blame said economy on...'democrats' ' corrupt unions' and 'liberal coastal elites'. And finally, hollow out the public school system thru tax cuts and teacher shortages along with voucher programs to benefit private and religious schools. All of this against a backdrop of Big Pharma's flooding the Region with addictive opioids, followed later with cheap heroin, and fentanyl.

I hope to hell Beth wins this seat and we should all be supporting Her.