Obama may or may not need the votes of Appalachia. I don't know, I'm not a pundit who handicaps elections like they are cockfights.

A more interesting question, however, is whether or not Appalachia needs Obama. Webb made a good point a few weeks ago in a television interview when he said that there is a natural coalition to be created between poor african americans and poor whites based on each group's enconomic insecurities. But since Jim Crow ended, the Republicans have successfully managed to pit these two groups against each other by emphasizing their differences rather than their similarities.

So if you care about anything except Our Guy Winning, you would likely want to see rural white folks come into the Democratic fold. Their livelihood depends on it.

We have zillions of pundits talking about what Looks Good for the Democratic party. It would be nice to delve deeper and decide what's actually in the best interest of voters.