Possible, but seems unlikely given the description of him and complete lack of media saavy if it was a PR attempt.

Do they have liberals in Dalton, Georgia?

This. It is a college town, but not exactly what I would call progressive. It does host on elf the best and most economical mountain bike races of the year - Snake Creek Time Trial Series.

When I think of Dalton I think of a failed textile industry, mostly carpeting. College town?

Wife wants to buy a little mountain house "up" there somewhere as a rental investment.

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Books @ Amazon
"If only he had used his genius for niceness, instead of Evil." M. Smart

Yeah, not a college town in the sense of a Boulder, CO or Athen, GA, but there is a college there which changes the dynamic of the population. Definitely carpet though. Failed? That's news to me. Not saying it's wrong, just haven't heard anything about that.

The textile industry used to be a big employer in GA. Most of it went overseas decades ago. Atlanta dodged the problem by booming as a hub for tech/media/logistics. Savannah, a distant 2nd in population, reinvented itself as a tourist destination.

Most of the rest of the state looks like the rest of small town America. Industry gone. Town going downhill.

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"If only he had used his genius for niceness, instead of Evil." M. Smart

Not failed, but definitely not the size and scope it use to be. Unemployment there had been running about 2% more than the rest of GA, but now is only around .5% more. They got hit real hard during the economic downturn and housing bubble. Just starting to get back on pace. Recently saw a list that had them as the city with the fast increasing violent crime rate per capita in GA. Something like 200% increase over 5 years based on 2016 data.

Anyone else here from the Atlanta area? i use to listen to a radio station here called 99x, great alternative station that went away when online radio and itunes became prevalent. They did a skit one time where "The Fat Kid" went up to trailer park homes near his home in Rome, GA(near Dalton) and pretended to be some Fed Agent just after G. Bush's reelection. HE told people that during the election the 2nd amendment was repealed by ballot initiative and he was there to collect their guns.(not a smart move in rural GA). But I always remember this one lady's response when I think about why some people shouldn't be allowed to have guns - it was getting heated and at one point she blurts out "you can't take my guns, I have enemies", which I believe were some of her relatives, but I may be mistaken on that part. It's always hard to reconcile that encounter with the image of rural, responsible gun owners. But I guess she needed them for protection. BTW, that little stunt got the Fat kid jail time for impersonating a federal agent.