Hidden Hurt, an article by Mary Otto appears in The Washington Post magazine for November 9, 2008.
Pain hides in these green mountains. Diseased hearts and clouded lungs, aching teeth and anxious minds.
But, for three days a year, more than 800 volunteer doctors, dentists, nurses and other health-care workers come from all over Virginia and beyond to this isolated place in Appalachia to provide free medical care to those who cannot afford it. Sick and hurting people by the hundreds gather and wait for the gates of the Wise County Fairgrounds to swing open -- their presence a testament to the country's health-care crisis.
The people of Wise County and surrounding environs are poorer and more likely to be unemployed than the national average. Workers -- or former workers -- are also more likely to be disabled.
By most any objective review of the proposals put forth during the presidential campaign, the overwhelming majority of Wise County residents would have been better off under the Obama plan.
And yet, they couldn't bring themselves to vote for the person who could make their lives, and those of their families, better.
According to the article, the poverty rate in Wise County is 19.2 percent, and the per capita income is about $14,000 a year. Under the tax plan proposed by President-elect Obama, every American with income below $250,000 would have their taxes cut.
For the people of Wise County who make $14,000, it just wasn't worth it.
Census reports show that the county is nearly 97 percent white. 62.5% of the residents have a high school diploma or higher, compared to 80.4% in the U.S. Approximately 20 percent of Wise County residents live below the U.S. poverty level.
And yet, they couldn't bring themselves to vote for Barack Obama for President.
Election results from the Virginia State Board of Elections shows that Wise County overwhelmingly supported McCain-Palin with over 63 percent, to Obama's 35 percent.
All over the the fairgrounds, volunteers are busy packing up. It's nearly noon, and 2,670 people have received medical treatment worth more than $1.7 million, for which they didn't pay a dime. Hundreds of tests have been administered. More than 1,000 pairs of eyeglasses have been made. More than 4,000 teeth have been extracted.
Instead of voting for the candidate who could have helped them, they couldn't bring themselves to vote for Obama.
Of course, they're already planning to see each other again next year -- at the fairgrounds for more free health care.
