You should check this column in NYT about Appalachia here
It's about the way Appalachia votes. In my opinion, if we were to create one or even two states out of just these counties the Republican party would consist of MUCH more moderate philosophies, tolerance and candidates - and the Democratic party would move more to the left. The discussion would be about how to progress as a country rather than obsessively focusing on Yes/No issues like abortion, guns, gays, race and religion. It's really just an accident of geography that they wield such power in the first place, occupying large chunks of so many states. Since creating a new state is never going to happen we need to do something else, focusing on this region - like just outright buying their silence/votes in some way - it's been working so far with the local Sunni leaders in Iraq and wouldn't it be better for that money to be going to people here in the US? The Democrats' Plan to Rebuild Appalachia.