General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: What are the issues of Rural Voters that we are not addressing? [View all]betsuni
(25,436 posts)She had a detailed plan to invest $30 billion to revitalize coal communities, incentives to attract jobs and industries, improve infrastructure and broadband internet, training programs "that would lead to a real job instead of worthless certificates," support for schools and students, and the opioid crisis.
"No other candidate came close to this level of attention to the real challenges facing coal communities. ... I genuinely cared a lot about struggling working-class families in fading small towns. I cared a lot about coal communities in particular. Not for political reasons -- I knew I wasn't going to win a lot of votes in places like West Virginia -- but for personal ones. I lived in Arkansas for years and fell in love with Ozark mountain towns a lot like those in Appalachia. In fact, coal had been mined in Arkansas for decades, and Bill and I knew retired minors suffering from black lung disease."
"We should totally reimagine our training and workforce development system so that employers and unions are true partners, and people who don't go to college can find a good job and lead a middle-class life."
But nobody heard about her plans, her personal connection and travels in the rural areas, her working with the United Mine Workers of America union to hold coal companies accountable to guarantee health insurance and pensions. No, we were told she was a corrupt out-of-touch coastal elite with no message and no economic polities who heartlessly tells poor rural people to just "get a 4-year degree."