We really can't stand Bush in Kentucky

I don't know what it takes to get it through the media's thick skull that Kentuckians can't stand Bush. Maybe the fact that the Republicans keep losing some of the state's most rural counties will do it.

Nonetheless, I found an interesting article about Obama's smashing electoral victories in eastern Kentucky:

http://polwatchers.typepad.com/pol_watchers/2008/11/officials-in-4-appalachian-counties-proud-their-residents-went-for-obama.html

Without a doubt, Obama had developed a strong appeal in these counties. McCain, on the other hand, was hopelessly tarnished by Bush's stench. That's not a scent you can cover up easily.

This wouldn't even be a story except that the media previously kept portraying poor and working-class areas of Kentucky as being full of racist bumpkins who'd never vote for Obama even if his only opponent was, say, Dan Quayle. If these counties were rich, there never would have been an article about them if they went 61% for Obama - despite the fact that more affluent areas were less likely to support him!

In other words, this article debunks the right-wing media's classism that was showcased before the election. It's no small irony that in portraying working-class Kentuckians as right-wing bigots, the media was itself practicing right-wing bigotry.

I guarantee McCain would have lost even more counties in that area if not for the suppression of voter carpools that's gained height in this decade. The media's last-minute hit piece that attacked Obama by taking his comments about coal out of context seemed to have little effect though, as voters who made up their minds in the last few days of the campaign were more likely to support him.

The real mystery is how the hell Bush managed to win Kentucky when nobody liked him even back then. See, this is one state where we really, really don't like that guy.