The assignment: Go back to the place where I grew up, here in the middle of Ohio's Appalachian region across the river from West Virginia, talk to family and friends and my hometown people and offer a perspective on the heart of Trump country that few others in the media can.
This poverty-stricken area, nestled amid the picturesque Appalachian foothills about 150 miles east of Cincinnati, continues to stand firm behind Trump. And rural Ohio very well could play a part in re-electing him, barring impeachment.
These folks already get made fun of enough for being from Appalachia. They're good, respectful people who are focused on taking care of their families. They want to be left alone. They don't care about stupid Twitter wars, and I don't want to be responsible for thrusting them into the vicious rhetorical crossfire between leftist activists and Trump sycophants.
I found that a lot of folks didn't want to talk about Trump. They didn't want to put themselves out there for fear of being verbally bludgeoned on Facebook and Twitter or in the grocery store or even at church.
And those who did want to talk, well, they seemed to speak for those who wanted to remain silent: They're tired of certain cable news networks and the leftist political class stereotyping them as a bunch of toothless, racist, backwoods rubes.
