A pastor recently wrote an editorial in The Lexington Herald Leader attempting to explain Hillary Clinton’s loss in the heartland.
According to Paul Prather, a pastor in rural Kentucky, Democrats brought the election of Donald Trump upon themselves by ignoring the needs of small-town Americans. Prather noted that many Americans without college degrees find it almost impossible to earn a living.
As recounted in The Rural Blog,the pastor didn’t mince words: “They can’t pay their car loans,” he wrote. “[They] can’t buy a home, can barely keep the electricity on, and have third-rate health care, if any. They hear Democrats promoting affirmative action, transgender rights, abortion rights, illegal immigrants’ rights — but nobody’s lobbying for them. And they need help. Terribly.”
Pastor Prather argued that the Republican Party is the worst place for such Americans to be. Yet, he says they voted for the GOP because that’s the only party that’s at least made the effort “to recognize their values, speak their language and court them—even if [the party] typically takes advantage of them.”