It's not expensive to live here. Pennsylvania Anthracite Coal Miners Memorial, 3. As industry declined, so did the power of the unions. "In this part of the United States – southwestern Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Kentucky – the two things you don't want to talk about are energy and guns. A Monmouth poll released this week found him 12 points ahead of Trump, building up a healthy lead in the cities and the suburbs. “I think that’s not true,” she says of Biden’s characterisation of his own past. In Cambria County, where Johnstown is located, the shift from blue to red has been stark. But, in places like Johnstown at least, he is battling not just Trump’s unique appeal to working-class voters, but long-term structural trends that could spell trouble for Democrats beyond 2020. Zimmerman says that despite the president’s failure to meet his promises, many of his friends and colleagues still favour Trump and show no signs of changing. The first thing you notice is the space taken up by factories, most of them still, and the freight trains rumbling along the outskirts of the town. He’s not a racist man. They think that Democrats are going to take away their guns and they're going to close the coal industry and the gas industry – I don't care who gets the presidency, that's not going to happen,” he adds. It was first dedicated in 2018. Pennsylvania Anthracite Coal Miners Memorial Detail, 5. He is talking about his own working-class roots growing up in Scranton. The Pennsylvania State Archives hold numerous collections which pertain to persons either employed in or in some way associated with the anthracite (hard coal) and bituminous (soft coal) mining industries of the Commonwealth. But rural Pennsylvania is more than just coal miners and former coal miners, especially now. The memorial features a five-foot statue of a coal miner along with a wall listing more than 600 locals who worked in the mines. By William Fischer, Jr., June 11, 2017. Whatever the reason, Trump’s message found a receptive audience at a perfect time. “I don't have a degree in sociology or psychology, I am flabbergasted. But she too has little hope that his failures here will translate into a shift back to Democrats and to Biden. She says Trump’s behaviour and his language means she could never vote for him. Pennsylvania Anthracite Coal Miners Memorial Detail, 7. In memory of: Those who built our small towns labored and died in the mining industry to provide for a better tomorrow , this sculpture stands as a lasting tribute to all Pennsylvania anthracite coal miners and their families. Few are expecting a turnaround for the Democrats here. Moore is different, however. “Your jobs will come back under a Trump administration. That’s exactly what happened to him in 2015. Zimmerman, the 40-year coal mining veteran, is singing a similar tune. They serve tacos. There was always an underlying tension at the heart of the Democrats’ strength in this region. Joe Biden is now trying to win back votes here from working-class voters like him. Start your Independent Premium subscription today. Are you sure you want to delete this comment? Then later, of his time riding the Amtrak to Washington DC from Delaware and the people he met and built friendships with working people along the way.