Democrats in Appalachia are running away from the Obama administration's coal record like their political lives depend on it. They may be right. After decades in Democrats' hands, much of the mountain corridor -- a string of districts running through West Virginia and along the edges of Pennsylvania, Ohio, Kentucky, Virginia and Tennessee -- has drifted toward Republicans in national elections. Energy issues have driven the switch, particularly since 2000, when Al Gore came to West Virginia touting a carbon-free future and became the fourth Democratic presidential candidate to lose the state since the start of the Great Depression. A Democrat has not won West Virginia since, and in 2008, Republican White House nominee John McCain won every House district in the region, including the eight currently held by Democrats. Go to story #1