https://www.cincinnati.com/story/ne...le-going-home-ohios-trump-country/3828368002/
GALLIPOLIS, Ohio – I've been a journalist for 21 years. I've never struggled to write something as much as I have this column.
The assignment: Go back to the place where I grew up, here in the middle of Ohio's Appalachian region across the river from West Virginia, talk to family and friends and my hometown people and offer a perspective on the heart of Trump Country that few others in the media can.
This poverty-stricken area, nestled amid the picturesque Appalachian foothills about 150 miles east of Cincinnati, continues to stand firm behind Trump. And rural Ohio very well could play a part in re-electing him, barring impeachment.
That is, unless the Democratic candidates somehow miraculously start talking about real-world issues like jobs and safety. Tuesday night would actually be a great time for them to start appealing to everyday Americans, when the candidates debate 125 miles north of here in Westerville.
I thought this would be a fun story to do.
It wasn't.
Here's why: Many of my family, friends, former teachers, coaches, classmates and church congregates – and all their friends – in this county of 30,000 people are Trump supporters, and I didn't want to put them out there, by name, for the trolls to feast on.
I love my hometown and its people too much.
These folks already get made fun of enough for being from Appalachia. They're good, respectful people who are focused on taking care of their families. They want to be left alone. They don't care about stupid Twitter wars, and I don't want to be responsible for thrusting them into the vicious rhetorical crossfire between leftist activists and Trump sycophants.
I quickly came to the realization that this was going to be a challenge soon after arriving for my 2½-day stay in early September. I found that a lot of folks didn't want to talk about Trump. They didn't want to put themselves out there for fear of being verbally bludgeoned on Facebook and Twitter or in the grocery store or even at church.
And those who did want to talk, well, they seemed to speak for those who wanted to remain silent: They're tired of certain cable news networks and the leftist political class stereotyping them as a bunch of toothless, racist, backwoods rubes.
GALLIPOLIS, Ohio – I've been a journalist for 21 years. I've never struggled to write something as much as I have this column.
The assignment: Go back to the place where I grew up, here in the middle of Ohio's Appalachian region across the river from West Virginia, talk to family and friends and my hometown people and offer a perspective on the heart of Trump Country that few others in the media can.
This poverty-stricken area, nestled amid the picturesque Appalachian foothills about 150 miles east of Cincinnati, continues to stand firm behind Trump. And rural Ohio very well could play a part in re-electing him, barring impeachment.
That is, unless the Democratic candidates somehow miraculously start talking about real-world issues like jobs and safety. Tuesday night would actually be a great time for them to start appealing to everyday Americans, when the candidates debate 125 miles north of here in Westerville.
I thought this would be a fun story to do.
It wasn't.
Here's why: Many of my family, friends, former teachers, coaches, classmates and church congregates – and all their friends – in this county of 30,000 people are Trump supporters, and I didn't want to put them out there, by name, for the trolls to feast on.
I love my hometown and its people too much.
These folks already get made fun of enough for being from Appalachia. They're good, respectful people who are focused on taking care of their families. They want to be left alone. They don't care about stupid Twitter wars, and I don't want to be responsible for thrusting them into the vicious rhetorical crossfire between leftist activists and Trump sycophants.
I quickly came to the realization that this was going to be a challenge soon after arriving for my 2½-day stay in early September. I found that a lot of folks didn't want to talk about Trump. They didn't want to put themselves out there for fear of being verbally bludgeoned on Facebook and Twitter or in the grocery store or even at church.
And those who did want to talk, well, they seemed to speak for those who wanted to remain silent: They're tired of certain cable news networks and the leftist political class stereotyping them as a bunch of toothless, racist, backwoods rubes.
