Sen. Manchin is the last in a line of formidable West Virginia Democrats who promoted coal interests

Follow live: Updates from AP’s coverage of the presidential election. In West Virginia, the national party’s aggressive move toward clean energy often left Manchin and other Democrats vulnerable to Republican attacks, including when Trump campaigned in 2016 on a promise to end what he described as Obama’s “war on coal” and to save miners’ jobs. Retired West Virginia Wesleyan political history professor Robert Rupp, who called Manchin “the last of the old Democrats,” said the strategy made sense back then. “It is such a part of the history and culture,” said West Virginia University history professor William Hal Gorby, “that any sort of outside criticism of it naturally leads to sort of this perception that if you criticize the whole thing, you’re also criticizing my grandparents, my parents, my brothers, my relatives who worked in coal. “It’s one thing to support coal mine health and safety, it’s another thing to enforce the law to protect miners.” West Virginia Democrats just wanted to ensure that mine operators were being responsible, said retired Democratic Sen. Mike Caputo, a former coal miner and United Mine Workers of America representative.