Who would you suggest lead this effort?
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You mean the Democratic Party under Obama that invested heavily in an Appalachian jobs program or the one that invested heavily in parts of rural Indiana like the Elkhart Project?
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Iām sure heād approve of big vote-getters Zephyr Teachout, and Jill Stein!
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H. Clinton tried to lay down some reality for these communities and got pilloried for it. Iām not saying that this is a worthless task. I am pointing out that thereās got to be some reality as to what can be offered to these rural areas that is realistic. And no, the Dem Party hasnāt told anyone to move to the cities if they canāt.
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I understand that Democrats need to embrace pro life candidates in some areas. That said, we do not need these three people picking them.
I question their judgment. I donāt like their histories or their baggage. Daschle lost long before the red wave in 2010. I prefer to see it done at a local level. Oklahoma Democrats elected a great choice for their partyās chair. She is selecting great candidates. I believe her candidates have taken three state seats away from Republicans. If we are going to rebuild, it needs to start at the local level.
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Meanwhile in rural red flyover country (a few states over from my area - also red flyover country) - this is what happens when the GOP governor is caught in a gross sex/abuse scandal: back our guy or else. This is what happens in ostensibly one-party state systems.
I am glad for this new effort by Daschle et al.
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They could start by drawing up a list that compares what the the Democrats have done for the average working class and what the Republicans have done for the average working class. Once they see that the Republican column is empty it should make it somewhat easier.
But there is still the race thing to overcome.
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cite evidence other than āthatās what conservatives think liberal politicians do.ā I believe this is the same blindness of a bunch of millionaires who write deliberately dense and hard to understand laws to keep financial fraud legal telling us all to beware of āelitesā. Thereās smugness and condescension on both sides, and rural voters, or I should say, lower-middle class rural voters, also need to stop grousing about their values being the only true ones. States in the midwest have higher divorce statistics than hollywood, more meth labs than bad olā crime ridden chicago, and big water problems that are only going to get worse due to graft thatās as epic as anything in 19th century new york. Iām not buying the condescension.
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I think this is a great thing to do but you and others correctly recognize the heavy lift involved. Iām not entirely snarking to say they should get in touch with people who deprogram family members whoāve been brainwashed by a cult, because thatās the level of persuasion we need. All the research on this sort of stuff says itās really, really hard to get people to give up even their most nonsensical beliefs, once theyāve taken hold.
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Daschle was a total hackālobbyist wife, the whole deal. he is either the best person to lead this because he knows all the crevices, or the worst because he wonāt support a truly out-front agenda.
I always gave you credit for being smarter than that. Thanks for proving otherwise.
Bingo. Iām so tired of all the pearl-clutching over the supposed condescension and disdain of āelitistā Democrats toward rural voters and the white working class. What should they do, assure them that coal-powered autos are just on the horizon?
Economic anxiety, my white ass.
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This is the same guy who sabotaged Obamacare in the final yards before passage. He should never be allowed back into the policy arena.
Arkansas is a rural state, but Clinton was as urban a person as you could find in Little Rock. It was during his term that the Democratic party began to dial back on support for rural America. I remember lots and lots of Democratic criticism of farm programs that were put in place by progressives back in the 30s. The Democratic party came to view farmers as entitled and focused all their attention on urban voters and problems. Republicans were happy to turn farm country bright red.
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Aetna is one of his top clients.
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I donāt buy that Democrats are condescending to rural voters, thatās just a right wing talking point. The Republicans stock-in-trade is to appeal to these rural voters sense of victimhood - that the rest of the country doesnāt understand their concerns, their way of life, or their values. Their world view has been shaped by the likes of right wing radio which is pretty much all you can hear on your radio while you are in your tractor. We used to have local radio that was geared to just this community and much more interactive than Limbaugh droning on hour after hour. I donāt know how to deal with that since we no longer care about monopolies. Itās a problem thatās for sure.
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Trumpās tariffs should help them get a foothold. The GOPās destruction of rural medical facilities through defunding of Medicaid should do the rest.
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But I donāt think we have to temper our message or water down progressivism to appeal to older voters. Voters want good health care and they want good housing and good education. They may say, in rural Oklahoma, that theyāre less concerned with black lives, but there are black rural voters that need to be reached and engaged too. They may say they donāt care about abortion, but plenty of women are getting abortions and even more are getting access to birth control under our current laws.
The Republican narrative is that those groups of people canāt have their rights because if they get their rights, you canāt have yours. They tell people there are only so many rights to go around, only so much privilege to go around. But thatās not the case. Our narrative needs to be that everyone needs to be treated with respect and dignity and be able to lead successful, happy lives, because thatās better for everybody.
Anna Langthorn, the 24 year old Oklahoma chair of the Democrat party. In special elections since she has been elected as chair, Democrats have taken 3 seats from Republicans.
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Broadband must become available to every place in this country. It will mean the destruction of hate radio when everyone has access to blogs instead of just GOP indoctrination. Believe it or not, but most people like variety in their lives. Itās only when you are forced to swallow BS that you do it.
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Republicans were happy to turn farm country bright red.
Rural voters decided to turn āfarm countryā bright red. I guess there were some Dems who viewed some farm subsidies as entitled; to an extent, they are correct. Of course, Rumpās trying to put an end to that. However, even if farm subsidies are reduced greatly by the GOP, theyāll always be another Dem boogeyman on the horizon.