Tuesday’s crushing loss in West Virginia – where former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton garnered just 38 percent of the vote after winning the state with 67 percent in 2008 – capped off days of bad news for the likely Democratic nominee.
Her pledge to “put a lot of coal miners and coal companies out of business” came back to haunt her in a big way, her own surrogates were quoted grousing about her standing in manufacturing states, and a new Quinnipiac poll showed her favorability rating cratering in the key swing states of Florida, Pennsylvania, and Ohio.
“So what?” one might say, pointing out that Clinton is all but mathematically certain to win the nomination anyway. But, as Reuters reported Wednesday, Clinton’s West Virginia loss is indicative of a regional problem: "For Clinton, 68, the West Virginia result underscored how she still needs to court working-class voters in the Rust Belt, including key states such as Ohio and Pennsylvania. West Virginia has one of the highest unemployment rates in country."
And that region – coal country, Appalachia, the Rust Belt, whatever term the pundits are using on any given day – is home to several of the most hotly contested U.S. Senate races. Lost in all the noise right now is the toxic effect Clinton’s terrible numbers and deep unpopularity could have on down-ballot Democrats in must-win races.
Read more:
http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/campaign/279694-meet-the-down-ballot-democrats-caught-up-in-clintons-coal
