In 1964, when President Lyndon Johnson inaugurated his “War on Poverty,” he travelled to the heart of coal country in eastern Kentucky, one of the poorest regions in the country. It was, until recently, most reliably Democratic: In the 20^th century when Democrats won the presidency, they almost always won Kentucky, thanks to strong support from the east.

But in 2008, John McCain won Kentucky by nearly 20 points, thanks to a very strong showing in the historically Democratic parts of the state, which also backed Bush over Kerry in 2004 and split between Bush and Gore in 2000. And on Tuesday night, in the Democratic presidential primary, Obama was thoroughly embarrassed, losing over 40 percent to the choice of “Uncomitted.” 

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