A blast from the past--Jesse Jackson's 2004 Appalachia tour

[eridani]

http://www.buzzflash.com/interviews/04/06/int04033.html

BuzzFlash: It seems that you’re trying to unify the country by having a dialogue with various groups that, at first glance, some people might believe are in opposition to one another. And you’re talking, as you say, to poor, rural, often times white men and educating them that Bush’s policies are hurting them just as much if not more than other demographics in the country, despite the fact that most consider them the GOP base.

Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, Sr.: It’s interesting that these are mostly white coal miners but they have received me so well. I was meeting and and staying with a different coal mining family every night. But in spite of all of their deprivation – by the way, 30 steel mills have closed -- they still have the power to vote their interest and not their fears and decide the next president. They have the power to determine the next Senate. A small number of votes in that region determine everything. And so it is an attempt to convince even the working poor to not surrender and to vote their interest and not their fears. The last time, Bush and Cheney campaigned in 2000, they were wolves in sheep’s clothing to the people of Appalachia. For example, Bush and Cheney campaigned on guns. Well, the people in Appalachia still got their guns but they don’t have jobs and they don’t have healthcare.