A Gazette editorial from the Charleston Gazette-Mail
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — When the Clinton presidential campaign rolled into the Mountain State, angry people in southern coal counties erupted in protests. Bearing Trump signs, they screamed insults at Bill Clinton as he urged support for his wife.
“We’ve got our own party — the coal party,” William Hannah of Dingess, Mingo County, said at a Logan rally. Some of them called Sen. Joe Manchin “Traitor Joe.”
Reactions like these are sad — but understandable. They’re from agonized people bearing the brunt of the retreat of the coal industry. People lash out looking for someone to blame.
In reality, Democrats offer the best hope for stricken Appalachian coalfields, and Hillary offers specifics. She has drafted a $30 billion plan to rescue jobless communities, putting laid-off miners to work cleaning up abandoned mine sites. Her proposal would shore up miner pensions, help struggling school systems and provide a dozen other supports. If voters would elect her as president and give her a Democratic majority in Congress, she could get it done…