This Appalachian Life: On the minds of the Democratic Party

Living in the oldest mountain range in the world, it’s easy to feel as if living in Appalachia is to live in an entirely different world than everyone else. The paradox is that this is both fiction and reality. The people of Appalachia live the same experiences of everyone else on the planet, and yet they also tread down paths that only exist here, literally and metaphorically. “This Appalachian Life” aims to examine that paradox, looking deeper into the people, ideas and stories born from the region and the ones that find themselves stumbling upon it.

Sully Styles and Trenton Rose

November 20, 2024

This Appalachian Life: On the minds of the Democratic Party

Sully Styles

November 5 was a tough loss for the Watauga Democratic Party. After a last-minute candidate change, the party worked tirelessly, for months, campaigning for Vice President Kamala Harris. That effort paid off here in Watauga as the county went blue while most of the states in the country took a hard shift to red.

Throughout those months of campaigning, there was an undercurrent of optimism. A genuine belief in the Harris campaign that hadn’t been there when Biden was the incumbent candidate. The momentum surged forward as Tim Walz was unveiled as her much anticipated vice presidential pick, as she performed well in the only presidential debate, and on into the evening of Election Night. But, as preliminary counts began rolling in, the velocity of anticipation built over months hit a wall in a matter of hours.

Even in the face of huge victories for the party in North Carolina with Jeff Jackson, Mo Green, and Josh Stein, excitement turned to despair, and by the end of the night, everyone had gone home.

In this episode of “This Appalachian Life,” we tell the story of the Democratic Party that night. What was on people’s minds, how those feelings changed, and what it all means to the party going forward.

Hosted by: Sully Styles and Trenton Rose

Produced by: Sully Styles and Trenton Rose

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