Yes, I remember Bill gave a good speech about retraining workers, but without businesses in these towns to hire people, I don't see how it would do much for actual employment.

It's not only manufacturing that left, agriculture scaled so high that you need 1000+ acres to make it in most crops. 1000 acres costs millions of dollars, leaving even more people behind. I don't know your age, but there were a bunch of Farm Aid concerts in the 80s. Didn't seem to do much though.