Appalachia still loves Bill Clinton...

[kentuck]

Which, in large part, helps to explain the large vote going for Hillary Clinton. Unlike some parts of the country where Democrats were not very pleased with Bill Clinton's personal actions while he was President, the people in Appalachia seem to have very little problem with those issues.

It is over-simplistic to say that the people are racist and that is why they are voting for Hillary. Because she is one of us, a racist also? Actually, it could be argued that the folks in Appalachia are more tolerant in some areas than other parts of the country, especially when it comes to the sex antics of Bill Clinton. Obviously, if they held that against him, they probably would not vote for Hillary.

Primarily, however, it is a part of the country that remembers fondly the economic conditions under Bill Clinton and they believe, vicariously, that Hillary can return them to those good old days. That is why Hillary will probably win KY by about 35%. But that does not necessarily mean that John McCain would win KY by 35%. Maybe he will only win by 10%? :-)

[stray cat]

1. I think your are right

[BlueJac]

2. They can have "NAFTA Bill"

[kentuck]

3. I did not say they were educated or sophisticated voters..

They are not. They mostly vote their gut.

[Ichingcarpenter]

6. These states also have the lowest internet usage in the nation

They also have the lowest access to high speed internet.

[Avalux]

4. I don't know why people aren't talking about this more.

I have family members who voted for Hillary because they love Bill and think her presidency would be a continuation of his; he'd be back in office running the show. There are A LOT of people out there who have done the same thing.

[Starbucks Anarchist]

5. Hillary always mentions it, too.

I think it was in the most recent debate or two where she went on and on about how great the '90s were.

[ErinBerin84]

7. I'm an Obama supporter, and I feel really good

that men have been voting for a woman, but I wish that I didn't have to wonder how much of it is because of Bill . I remember the 60 minutes interview (the infamous "as far as I know" one), and they were interviewing Ohio Clinton supporters. Not many were interviewed, but several, when asked, said "Bill Clinton is her husband. He would be an advisor or something, I would imagine." I can imagine that being one reason, but why give that as the first reason as to why you are supporting Senator Clinton , on national television? Though I guess it could just be edited that way. But I also remember (in Texas, maybe?) a man asking Bill Clinton in the audience "I saw the 3 AM phone ad, and I have to say, I would rather see YOU at the other end of the phone at 3 am!" and Bill laughed and said "I will help when I can!" I just kind of wished he had said "Hillary is perfectly capable of handling it on her own."

[elocs]

8. That's the point--Hillary is not Bill as much as she like to claim his experience as her own.

I have a friend (a woman) who is a big Bill Clinton fan, bought his book and stood in line to get him to autograph it. She even offered it to me as a gift, but I had to say "thanks, but you should really give it to someone who would appreciate it". But she does not support Hillary. Why? She voted for the war. Hillary is not Bill, that was then and this is now.

[theHandpuppet]

9. Spot on, Kentuck

I was having a political discussion last week with a man who's working on the heating system for our house. I wasn't sure what he would make of the large signs in front of my house, the ones for Hillary and other Dem candidates like congressional candidate Anne Barth. Apparently they served as a segue for him to really open up about his feelings.

He said the name Clinton reminded him of the days when the country had jobs, no debt and no war, and eight years of George Bush only reminded him how good the country had it pre-Chimp. The guy went on for a full five minutes about the stupidity of George Bush and how he was an embarrassment. Anyway, he was of the mind that Bill Clinton got a bad rap and that he felt Hillary would also make a great chief executive and right the sinking ship.