Romney’s Appalachia Problem

Many American voters have a hard time relating to Mitt Romney—an issue that has consistently surfaced during his presidential campaign, including those who live in Appalachia, as Mitt discovered during the counting of last night's primary results. While Romney was able to win over Appalachian voters in southwest Virginia, where he was competing only against Ron Paul, the residents of this region in eastern Tennessee and northern Georgia showed a skepticism toward Romney reminiscent of that felt toward Barack Obama in 2008. “You’re talking about people for whom the substance of Romney’s message ought to have strong appeal in terms of dealing with jobs ... but the rhetoric of this message is not working for him with this bloc of voters,” said RNC member John Ryder. “It’s an issue we will have to address.”