Why can't Democrats win in rural areas?

[Cyrano]

Actually, the answer isn't that deep. In general, people who live in rural areas tend to be less well educated than urban and suburban populations. Rural voters tend to tune out white papers, sophisticated explanations, or statistics that show they're better off under Democrats. And this makes it much simpler for Republicans to hit those rural voters at the gut level.

I've always wondered why a state like Pennsylvania is up for grabs until someone who lives there explained to me that Pennsylvania is Philadelphia and Pittsburgh with Alabama in the middle. Which makes Pennsylvania a lot more rural than it seems.

Democrats are tearing their hair out wondering how they can get the rural vote. The answer is, they can't unless they start using the Republican "Southern Strategy." But then they wouldn't be Democrats any longer.

Anyhow, rural America's rural election turnout requires a massive turnout for Democrats in urban and suburban areas. And the Supreme Court might just cause this to happen if they kill abortion and let everyone carry a gun.

Interesting article on this issue in today's WaPo. (Link below.)

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/sundaytake-democrats-losing-rural/2021/11/06/3f316194-3f0d-11ec-bfad-8283439871ec_story.html

[bearsfootball516]

1. Much of rural America has turned into news deserts over the past few decades

As small town newspapers and such have shuttered, many rural places don't have access to reliable, accurate news. You know what's broadcast over the country without and sort of problems?

Fox News.

[Celerity]

4. & Fox on steroids, aka social media with its RW favouring algorithms, plus RW white wing hate radio

[Bettie]

30. And AM talk radio

which, these days, is pretty much religion (right wing) and hate radio.

[certainot]

65. yep. and RW radio makes fox possible. the answer to the question is Republican talk radio

fox is the visual icing on the lie turd pie of talk radio

in more than 40 states it's the only free easy option for news sports weather politics etc while driving and working. and unlike fox, it can be locally coordinated, is not monitored or polled for, takes paid callers from russia, the liars don't have to look into the camera when they lie, never even has to pretend to give opposing views a forum, and so on

fox hosts can't do a show intro with a very young angry and emotional greta thunberg to make fun of young climate activists

when the 'expert' analysts and celebrated strategists like that idiot james carville blame 'wokeness' or CRT or BLM or 'defunding the police' and bad dem messaging they have no clue WHY that bullshit can become real buzz

they would spend $1000 for a one hour infomercial on a radio station to sell mccaulife but can't do the simple math - at $1000/hr x 15 hrs/day x 30 republican radio stations in Va, including 5 endorsed by Va tech, = $450,000/DAY FREE for republicans - always attacking dems and selling republican lies - always

for the 1500 US stations that form the 95% monopoly messaging juggernaut that's $90M/week or about $5B/yr free, dominating political and everyday buzz in rural areas, where fox isn't on anywhere near as much for people driving and working and doing chores

until democrats can do that simple math most of the analysis and calls for 'better messaging' are pretty useless

[Bettie]

93. Yep

and we should be buying ads on there, they are cheap and frankly, our message CAN counter the lies, given time.

Just quick ads to remind people what the Democratic party has brought them. What the Democratic party stands for.

But, as I'm not a highly paid talking head, or someone who lunches with, well, everyone on a weekly basis, no one cares what I think!

[JHB]

106. Spot on. Yet whenever anyone mentions the RW saturation AM radio...

...there's always a "tisk, tisk" whenever someone suggests that maybe some resources need to be put area. Because Facebook and other social media used to spread RW crapola.

[BlueIdaho]

51. The radio stream of propaganda is real - but

If you live in rural America like I do - the propaganda stream is unbelievable… But - when we call rural America “flyover country” and say they “cling to their guns and bibles” - we need to face facts. At times our messaging sucks.

[hunter]

114. The problem is our U.S.A. Constitution.

The rural "Lords" have disproportionate political power and do not truly represent their constituents.

The foundations of the U.S.A. were much weakened by appeasement of the slave states and powerful land owners who considered themselves modern Lords of the New World.

Our Senates, both state and national, need to be neutered, just as the House of Lords was eventually neutered in the United Kingdom.

In a rational world Mitch McConnell would be the leader of the Senate and a relatively powerless fop.

Sorry for the sexist language but the Republican Party is a sexist institution and I mean for them to understand my words.

[George II]

57. That's why republicans are so set-against expanding broadband internet to rural areas....

Right now they have a "monopoly" on the news these people get, through their constant barrage of right-wing AM radio.

A few years back I drove from NYC to Detroit. Out in the country I scanned for radio stations. Of the five or six I could get, most of them were airing Rush and Hannity. If I chose to listen, in a twelve hour drive about all I could get was right-wing radio.

[Hulk]

64. But they have "evangeliKKKal" radio 24/7 and fox

Once again, I share my perspective as a “drive through observer”. I’ve driven across the USA from Texas to Washington state, Oregon to Virginia...a dozen times; and the radio airwaves are FULL of bible-thumping “Jesus loves you...libruls kill babies” and vannity reich-winger-fox wannabes. Not ONE progressive voice...not one!

You can get NPR in or near major metro area, but rural red umuriKKKa is blind and deaf to any rational, opposing views. It’s all about abortion, gun rights and bible-thumping.

Rural voters aren’t all ignorant...it’s just ALL THE HEAR is the gQp song...over and over, and over, and over....

Until the DNC invests in media across the countryside....we will continue to be two separate Americas.

[Cyrano]

88. Whoever said "The truth will set you free" was mistaken.

The reality is that hate sells and sells very well. Perhaps "the truth" could/would set people free if they ever heard it. But then, they'd have to believe it. And that seems to be asking a lot in a world drowning in propaganda.

[Sur Zobra]

135. Jesus said that

John 8:31-32 English Standard Version:

So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

The only “truth” referred to by Jesus is that everything said by him is true and by believing him you are set free.

This saying does not apply to facts. Facts don’t exist for the rural christians or the trumpists or anyone from the right-wing.

[misanthrope]

129. Of Alabama's four largest cities, only one has a daily newspaper

That's Montgomery and that paper, the Montgomery Advertiser, has bled a vast number of subscribers -- daily is only 8,000; Sunday is 11,000 -- because they get upset that the paper dares to print op-eds from anyone other than right-wing pundits.

The state's largest city is Birmingham. It's MSA (1.1 million residents) is 50th largest in the nation. It has a tri-weekly paper that is also routinely excoriated for publishing non-right-wing op-eds.

Elsewhere in the region, New Orleans has an MSA population is 1.2 million, a notch higher than Birmingham. It was reduced to tri-weekly publication in 2012, when it was still owned by Advance Publications of the Newhouse publishing empire. A local group purchased the paper in 2014 and resumed daily publication. Ownership has moved back and forth ever since and its daily production has been perilous.

[brooklynite]

2. The goal is NOT to win in the suburbs...

It’s to lose by the lowest percentage possible.

What that tend to call for are mainstream Democrats who campaign on basic issues rather than left wing progressive who target their message to urban populations.

[Hortensis]

25. :) Depends on the suburbs and office. But good strategic points

for statewide and national campaigns.

We picked up a bunch of suburban districts in 2018 by focusing heavily, and uniformly across the nation, on healthcare, as well as targeted practical local concerns.

Of course, that also worked in 2018 for urban districts.

Candidates who ran on farther-left ideology and their different proposed solutions were mostly rejected by both urban and suburban voters choosing their congressional representatives, though did better in some urban as said.

[George II]

60. Sad that when they win in urban areas they refuse to vote for legislation directed to urban areas.

[JI7]

3. Mostly white people . Even Large numbers of white people outside rural areas vote Republican

[WhiskeyGrinder]

7. Large swaths of the rural South are majority Black.

[JI7]

13. The places we lose are largely white . There are some exceptions like Oregon and Vermont

[WhiskeyGrinder]

17. Then talking about "losing rural areas" without including the race component isn't helpful.

[dsc]

19. we only win Oregon because of Portland and its suburbs

rural Oregon is every bit the red run Hell hole that rural Alabama is.

[BlueIdaho]

43. Same is true of Washington State.

If it weren’t for the Seattle - Tacoma metro area we would struggle to find a majority.

[jmowreader]

136. Same is true of pretty much every blue state

I lived in upstate New York for two years. If you want to get anywhere in the Thousand Islands region, you better be a Republican.

[Withywindle]

137. Common in the midwest too

Without the Chicago metro area, Illinois would vote a lot more like Indiana.

[Elessar Zappa]

124. Vermont is a mystery to me.

Even rural counties generally vote blue.

[Mopar151]

132. Education and income are big drivers!

Plus, Vermont is kind of a refuge for liberals and fringe lefties. Crusty natives refer to the fringes as "extra crunchy granolas", who may live in the "Tofu Triangle".

[LeftInTX]

77. Not that I know..I'm in Texas

Rural areas are white. In South Texas, they are often mixed Latino and white. But rural Latinos tend to vote like whites.

I'm sure there are a few pockets of rural Blacks in other states, but I think many Blacks have moved away over generations.

If there are pockets, I'm sure campaigns are aware of this.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

81. Rural areas have lost population, but they have diversified.

https://www.brookings.edu/blog/the-avenue/2021/09/28/mapping-rural-americas-diversity-and-demographic-change/

[LeftInTX]

84. Thanks...very interesting...will read later..

Yep, South Texas is majority Latino, even rural areas.

One thing to keep in mind is population density. Some of those counties in Texas have populations of less than 1,000.

However, the map has Val Verde and Maverick County as rural, but they really aren't. Most of the voting population of those two counties live in these two cities:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eagle_Pass,_Texas
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Del_Rio,_Texas

[mcar]

5. And they have hate radio 24/7

[highplainsdem]

9. Exactly. Much larger impact than Fox News IMO. 24/7 brainwashing,

more extreme than Fox News even in prime time, sometimes more extreme than Newsmax.

And the brainwashed people who call in to these radio shows are especially helpful in convincing other RWers that their beliefs are widely shared.

[2naSalit]

34. A lot of the radio hosts...

Are also Fux hosts so there's that. They get to spew more extreme crap on radio.

And that's a lot of what we have around here in Montana. I can drive from my place in the state to anywhere in Idaho and in most cases the only radio I can get along the way is hate radio and gawd fawning as I pass into the mormon zone.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

6. I live in a rural area that kept reelecting Democrats because Democrats spelled out exactly

how their votes/policies helped that area. It's not hard.

[RobertDevereaux]

8. Absolutely this. It's all in the messaging!

Well, okay. It's mostly in the messaging.

[Nokillmessanger]

15. PURE AND SIMPLE....RACISM

I have lived in rural white areas my whole life. The tide that binds is fear of brown and black people. There is nothing else that matters. They will cite other issues, but that is cover and race undergirds them all.

20 years ago, a lot of these people did not vote. They would tell me that both parties are garbage and the same. Of course, I knew the R party was carrying their water, but not openly saying it.

Now, the gloves are off and trump woke up a sleeping white bigoted giant of disaffected low information voters that lack the intellect to accurately judge the overall platform's of the two parties. So, they choose to vote against their own best interests. Why? Because it is more important to hurt brown people than it is to help themselves.

Oh, and sexism is big, too.

[electric_blue68]

111. Sigh. Not very surprised for either reason.

[mountain grammy]

53. Well good for you.. what rural area do you live in?

We have doors slammed in our faces when we try to reach out.. Democrat is a dirty word here so to say "it's not hard" is belittling Democrats everywhere who are working hard to get our message out in our rural communities. Sorry pal, it is hard.

[LeftInTX]

87. Targeting is important

Democrats have data and data shows if someone is a Republican.
We aren't out to "convert" people.
We want our people to vote.

Sure a few doors slammed in the face is expected. Even Democrats slam doors on Democrats and sometimes data is wrong.
Even in heavy Republican areas there are usually a few Democrats.
Many areas are like 30% Democratic. Talking to those 30% is important.

Having ALL doors slammed is indicative of poor data or poor strategy.
A few doors slammed is to be expected, almost anywhere.

[mountain grammy]

99. Do you live in a rural republican area?

[LeftInTX]

115. I live in a suburban Republican area, but we have data...

It's about 60% Republican here....

I only talk to Democrats.

[mountain grammy]

121. I moved from Texas to CO in 1984

Texas had a Democratic governor when I left.. Colorado was red, but I lived in Denver and connected with many Democrats.. did union organizing and we worked to turn CO blue.

Moved to a tiny resort town in 1995. Always republican but the Democratic party was active and involved and for the most part politics was quiet. We even managed to get a Democratic Commissoner elected for a bit. Things started to get ugly when Obama was elected and it's only gotten worse since trump released the hounds. It's gotten so I don't want to live here anymore. Most of the good old libs I used to hang out with have already left. Racism, pure and simple

I do not believe it's easy to get rural areas to turn Democratic. In fact, I think it's nearly impossible.

[Elessar Zappa]

127. It depends on the rural area.

I live in a remote, rural county and we voted Biden 54% over Trump 45%. Our town council is majority Dem and our county commissioners are split.

[mountain grammy]

139. I know there are exceptions

even here in Colorado. But in most big cities including Denver (18% for trump) the GOP vote was less than 25%. That's a lot of fascists, but marginal. Most rural areas are well over 50% like mine, but also in the 40+% like yours. That's a lot of fascists, even in the minority, enough to cause real damage to the country, and they are.

My point is it is hard to fight fascism, and that's what we're up against.

Meantime, I love the southwest and rural living. Off to New Mexico for my final years.

[Elessar Zappa]

143. I completely understand what you're saying.

In my county, it helps that 40% of the population is Hispanic. If we were a largely white county, we’d probably be electing fascists too. I appreciate progressives like you who are fighting the good fight in tough areas.

[mountain grammy]

144. Thank you, I needed that..

[LeftInTX]

85. Awesome!!

We have a rural Dems group in Texas.

[Elessar Zappa]

126. Do you mind sharing the demographics of your area?

[Tetrachloride]

10. Messaging and financial fairness.

The stimulus checks during pandemic were one of the few things that I understand and benefited from directly. ( Road improvements are nice but don’t pay my wages)

[wellst0nev0ter]

11. Young people have moved out of rural hellholes a long time ago

Now the urban/rural vote is much more polarized, with the rural dead-enders voting trumpanzee.

[hunter]

62. "Brain drain" is real.

Many of the interesting kids in rural areas leave. And too many kill themselves directly, or indirectly by such recklessness as drunk driving.

My grandparents were all great disappointments to their families. One grandma and her sister didn't want anything to do with the dairy industry. They ran wild in Hollywood. One grandpa didn't want to be a rancher or miner so he ran off at 16 to what he thought was the big city of Cheyenne, Wyoming. The city failed his expectations so he joined the Army Air Corp and ended up in California, where he met my grandma. Two of my grandparents left ranching during World War II to work as welders in the California shipyards. They never went back.

I live in a solidly Democratic and diverse California city where the primary business is agriculture. Nevertheless my own kids went off to college in big cities and never returned.

It's a sad fact that Trumpist U.S.A. has correctly discerned that good schools with reality based science and history curriculums, and bright hard working immigrants who have overcome astonishing obstacles to get here, are a threat to their culture of racism and anti-intellectualism. No politician is ever going to say that.

[Cyrano]

94. Good post

Seems that racism and anti-intellectualism are driving today's politics. If it wins out in coming elections, America is over. I never fail to be amazed at how a minority of the uninformed can fuck up a democracy so much.

[doc03]

12. #1 race #2 guns. nt

[NickB79]

22. Agreed

Grew up in deep red Michelle Bachman territory here in Minnesota. It's all about race, guns and abortion, with a smattering of immigration/nationalism mixed in.

[mountain grammy]

54. Yep..

[paleotn]

101. #3 God

All mixed in a witch's brew of entitlement and irrational fear.

[Buckeye_Democrat]

14. Rural and mostly white areas of the NE USA are liberal.

That's a more interesting phenomenon to me.

I personally suspect it's mostly because there's far fewer white evangelical churches there compared to most rural parts of the country.

Evangelical leaders have bemoaned the lack of their presence in the NE USA, and they've recently been "planting churches" there trying to change it. And who knows? Maybe after 30 years of that effort, the people from that part of the country will become mostly right-wing a-holes as well?

If there's another explanation, I'm all ears.

My hypothesis was spawned from the low-hanging fruit that even Trump won over 80% of the white evangelical vote, and he would've lost the "white vote" like he did every other racial demographic if none of them had voted.

[Elessar Zappa]

128. I don't think the evangelicals

will be successful in converting New England. Despite their loud voice, the percentage of evangelicals in this country goes down every year. It’s only a matter of time before they don’t have the numbers to affect elections. It can’t come soon enough.

[Klaralven]

16. People with water wells and septic systems consider themselves independent and self reliant

But mainly, government policies have supported big ag, leading to depopulation of family farms.

And government policies have supported a combination of regulations and trade initiatives that have closed many manufacturing business that were the backbone of small cities and rural towns.

So an anti-tax, anti-regulation, anti-trade, anti-government message plays well there.

[hunter]

100. This anti-tax, anti-regulation, anti-trade, anti-government policy benefits big corporations...

... who then further obliterate the small farmers, manufacturers, and small businesses.

Rural Republican voters are insane. When their leaders kick them in the face they ask for more.

[Klaralven]

105. Big corps park profits offshore, have fleets of lawyers to deal with regs, move operations abroad

Big business copes quite well with big government. It is the small businesses that get bulldozed under.

[hunter]

110. The big guys ought to be able to "cope" as they usually have a hand in writing the regulations.

The little guys are just chum.

Chum

n. Bait usually consisting of oily fish ground up and scattered on the water.

v. chummed, chum·ming, chums

v.intr.
To scatter such bait in order to lure fish.

v.tr.
To lure (fish) with such bait.

https://www.thefreedictionary.com/chum

I tend to support small businesses and farmers, nevertheless some small farmers and business people really are assholes who should be driven out of business by those taxes and regulations they complain about, most especially labor and environmental regulations.

[ShazamIam]

18. Rural U.S. men are convinced the Democratic are going to take their guns, they stopped voting when

The Democratic made gun control, which had until the early 80s had been a liberal position, the right to own a gun. Old Republicans were opposed to gun rights. When the NRA and the political Christians were given the big voice in the Republican party. to form a coalition that turned rural America red.

[Buckeye_Democrat]

24. They supported Carter, an actual evangelical Christian...

... who was sincere about his religious values. If you look at the 1976 electoral college map, he won many mostly-rural states as if he was one of their modern-day Republican heroes.

That changed quickly after Falwell and others demonized him, and they voiced their support for Reagan, because Carter expressed support for taxing churches that promoted segregation.

[ShazamIam]

35. Carter didn't run on an anti-gun policy agenda.

[Buckeye_Democrat]

49. I never said that he did.

I instead ignored that part of your post, and focused on what I think is the MAIN reason that rural whites now vote for Republicans.

[ShazamIam]

61. Nor did I claim that you did. My point was about the Republicans taking up guns + religion

in 1980s, and Carter did lose in 80, , but not on the gun issue, the guns won Reagan's 84, re-election. You followed with the mention of Carter, and I pointed out that guns were not a major campaign issue in the 1976 Presidential contest.

[Buckeye_Democrat]

70. You might be correct about the gun issues later.

I can't recall that part. I mostly remembered that the GOP started putting pro-religious stuff in their party platform in 1980, and white evangelicals have been loyal Republican voters (as a group) since then.

Then it slowly evolved into Democrats being viewed as "Godless" and wrong about pretty much anything thereafter. If most Democrats were promoting gun control, then Republicans shouted they were going to take all their guns. If Democrats were promoting greater acceptance of the LGBTQ community, then Republicans started focusing on the "traditional family" and how those ideas of greater acceptance would somehow lead to greater harm to the innocent. Like sex with minor children was the goal of the Democratic party, or whatever.

Evangelical Christians are especially prone to "good vs evil" and "us vs them" ideas. They're main schtick is converting others to be just like them, or those people will basically be in the devil's hands.

Just look at how they act. Many of them don't even trust vaccines now because Democrats have almost universally endorsed them in this country.

Once they accepted a political party as being on THEIR side, in terms of religion, they've moaned about pretty much everything that Democrats have encouraged ever since. I've felt like saying, "Don't waste my time pretending that you're worried about gun control now. You don't like it because Democrats are suggesting it, and they're basically the party of the devil in your mind."

So many of them have a basic distrust in anything that Democrats promote. Democrats might have some nefarious ulterior motive, after all.

[LeftInTX]

91. Yeah, the gun issue is weird...

It just kinda crept up in the 90's.

All of a sudden, my dad supported gun rights. (He switched to Republican in 1968 after coming back from Vietnam...He was a Major over there..and couldn't stand "hippies and anti-war groups"...)

But he never mentioned gun rights until all a sudden after Bush became governor in 1995, they passed that concealed carry bill..."Selena would not have been murdered if she had a gun" was a talking point...

To the best of my knowledge, my dad never owned a gun. But he sure supported that gun carrying bill. My dad was a suburban/urban dweller after he retired from the military.

[SYFROYH]

76. I love Jimmy, but he also used some racist campaign practices

… to get into the GA governors mansion and that led to more credibility among southern white voters. He was simultaneously trying to court the Black vote as well as GA White vote.

[Buckeye_Democrat]

82. I just found some examples of it...

... from an online search.

Not cool, if what I read is indeed what he did during his campaigning in 1970. The article also mentioned that he didn't continue with that kind of behavior after he was elected governor, but the campaign practices were indeed racist.

[SYFROYH]

83. Politics can be ugly

[misanthrope]

130. This is the sixth paragraph of his Jan. 12, 1971 governor's inaugural address

"At the end of a long campaign, I believe I know our people as well as anyone. Based on this knowledge of Georgians North and South, Rural and Urban, liberal and conservative, I say to you quite frankly that the time for racial discrimination is over. Our people have already made this major and difficult decision, but we cannot underestimate the challenge of hundreds of minor decisions yet to be made. Our inherent human charity and our religious beliefs will be taxed to the limit. No poor, rural, weak, or black person should ever have to bear the additional burden of being deprived of the opportunity of an education, a job or simple justice. We Georgians are fully capable of making our judgments and managing our own affairs. We who are strong or in positions of leadership must realize that the responsibility for making correct decisions in the future is ours. As Governor, I will never shirk this responsibility."

It lost him a lot of support from white Georgians.

[Mariana]

146. Carter won that election 45 years ago.

Most of the people who voted for him are dead now.

[LakeArenal]

20. WI has an evangelical hold in rural are.

It’s crazy too because corporate farms are devouring farms. No reason to stay Republican.

[honest.abe]

21. Rural America see's Democrats as coastal elites who make fun of country folks...

and dont care about the issues facing rural America. That is a tough attitude to crack since most of them get their news from conservative radio and Fox news. I dont know the answer but we need to figure it out.

[BlueStater]

133. They thought Trump was qualified to be POTUS and voted for him in droves. Twice.

They resent everyone for looking at them as dumb bumpkins, but it doesn’t help when they continuously do stupid fucking things like that. Their own behavior is why they get stereotyped.

[Ocelot II]

23. Hate radio, uneducated white people, evangelical churches.

Lack of exposure to anybody but other uneducated white evangelicals who listen to hate radio and watch Faux.

[vlyons]

26. Not only are rural people less well educated,

but they are less well traveled. Never lived in a multi- cultural community with many different cultures. They mostly go to some fundamentalist church that reinforces the belief that those "others" are not the real true church, not real Americans, not upholding the "right" cultural values. Their lives are echo chambers, where they only hear and repeat whatever their family and friends keep telling them.

They are also told by their church to have absolute blind faith in Christian dogma. So it's similarly easy to have blind faith in GOP and Trump tropes. But to actually use reason and logic to question such beliefs as a virgin birth, eh not so much. And if true, how exactly did Jesus get his male chromozomes? And why hasn't trickled-down economics trickled down to me and raised my boat? And why are my tax dollars not building a hospital in my county? And why has the price of groceries tripled?

[Lonestarblue]

66. The less well traveled also have no concept that the US is not the most exceptional country.

It is not tops in education or access to healthcare. It is not tops in policies that benefit families. It is not tops in infrastructure spending and maintenance. It is not tops in public transportation. Its airports are not even in the top ten for best airports in the world. Its trains are dismal compared with European and Asian trains.

Where the US excels is in medical research and the ability of its premium universities to attract talent from all over the world. Yet, many rural voters do not connect immigration with people who conduct research into things like cancer treatment that make their lives better. By being against all immigration so that black and brown people cannot come her, they would throw out many of the people who contribute to the enormous progress made in treating diseases.

[AJT]

27. 30+ years of fox news and right-wing talk radio.

[appleannie1]

28. I live in rural PA close to the Ohio border.

This past election I saw a lot more Biden signs in yards than I had ever seen before. I know it still went for trump but by a smaller margin than usual. I think some of them saw things they did not like in trump once he was elected. The main problem is the local level. It used to be in my district there was a chance of getting a Democrat in Congress because my district included Erie and Sharon which is practically up against Youngstown. The GOP took care of that with gerrymandering and now I am in a district that goes clear to Harrisburg. Last Tuesday, when I voted, it was the same as it has been in elections since the gerrymandering. In main local positions, there was no choice between two candidates because no Dems wasted money trying to get elected. I feel I have no representation in the Federal government except Bob Casey and none at the local level.

I love the Pittsburgh and Philadelphia with Alabama in the middle comparison but it is even worse than that. The are both small islands of blue, completely surrounded by red.

[mrsadm]

48. good pont about gerrymandering

The district next to mine has Cornell University, and that city was split off from all the rural areas.

[JohnnyRingo]

63. I live right on the other side of the border from Sharon.

Trumbull County, and I've seen a rush to MAGA unlike any movement I've seen.

This was Baby Blue Obama Country, but I think Trump awoke a beast that was laying dormant in the union halls and Moose Clubs that hates the same people Trump hates, and when Hillary ran they totally lost it and changed party affiliation.

[appleannie1]

117. I saw that working the polls when trump won

I saw people that had never voted before. Not ever. But when Biden was running I was shocked by the number of Biden signs. I voted absentee and took my ballot to the courthouse and personally handed it in. Again I was shocked. There was a long line and it gave me hope. I knew most of the absentee early voters were Dem. So now our GOP Congress has shut down early and absentee voting. I hope it angers the Dems enough that they show up at the polls in droves even though they are outnumbered two to one in this area. If enough of them vote anyway, they will carry the cities to victory the same as when they voted for Biden.

[LeftInTX]

95. Is this a 2022 District? or is it a 2011-2020 District?

I thought PA had a non-partisan redistricting process..

Even in Texas, maps don't "legally" go into effect until January 19th. (90 days after the governor signed the bill, which was October 20th)

[appleannie1]

118. They redid the districts here about 10 years ago. It is why Rep. Dahlkemper only served two years.

The GOP went ballistic because she not only was a Dem, she was a woman. Can't have either of those things.

[modrepub]

29. Why Bother Appealing

to a demographic (rural voters) that are basically shrinking all the time? Rural areas are typically agricultural based economies. That's an industry that increasingly is mechanized and tied to economies of scale. Both tend to decrease the number of folks needed to produce food stocks while consolidating agricultural assets. Both of these factors help explain a shrinking and to some extent graying of most rural areas (outside mineral or energy extraction, which suffer from the same issues). The lack of opportunities leads to folks moving away for better economic opportunities. Combine economic malaise and disappearing population (and culture) and you get an angry (entitled) population who thinks they need "to take things back".

Best strategy for Dems is to prevent the cheating that consolidates power in these angry rural areas. Gerrymandering, getting people to vote every election, and preventing tax revenue from being diverted to areas in support of infrastructure that can not be supported by the local tax based is the countermeasure. The last point is a Republican talking point (but probably in the reverse direction). I wouldn't be surprised if the poorer urban areas are generating more tax revenue than their rural counterparts. Rural poverty is something rarely covered in any national media. The problems that exist in our urban areas are just as common in rural areas IMO.

[Sympthsical]

42. They have disproportionate control of the U.S. Senate

So finding an approach towards them that's at least moderately successful enough to get some blue senators in some of those spaces is imperative if we're going to succeed in passing the policies that are good for everyone in the future.

Senator Barrasso of Wyoming represents 290,000 mostly rural people. Senator Feinstein of California represents about 20 million largely urbanized people.

That will not change without a massive overhaul of the Constitution - i.e. it will never change.

We may be becoming more urbanized and less rural, but as long as that institution is there, we have a problem not being able to reach them.

[leftstreet]

52. +1

Add to that, less than half the eligible voters in the US vote, and it makes the systemic predisposition to minority rule even more glaring

[modrepub]

122. Not Listening

Keep the revenues where they're generated. This is why states like KY and WV get tons of pork. Because they have key people in the legislature who divert money to their own constituents at the expense of the rest of us.

They can have all the "control" they want in the Legislature. Won't do them any good if they can't divert tax receipts away from states and counties that generate them. If they don't want to support non-contributors, let them. They'll soon figure out they need to work with the rest of us if they want a functioning rural society.

[Qutzupalotl]

31. Style of campaigning matters too.

Democrats tend to rattle off a list of policies that will help people, but they are generally not memorable. Shorter soundbites and repetition would help, but even more effective would be reframing our policies as positions or values.

Don’t say, “I want to give you” this or that; that arouses mistrust: Why would somebody want to give me anything? What’s the catch? What’s the cost? That’s MY tax money you’re spending, buddy.

Instead, say “I BELIEVE” people should have this or that. That earns trust. Values voters respond to that kind of messaging. Instead of emphasizing the result, you’re showing your motivation for wanting the result, which flows naturally from your beliefs.

Exhibits A and B for all this are George Lakoff and one of his disciples, Pete Buttigieg.

[Qutzupalotl]

38. As an example, take the minimum wage debate.

We tend to get bogged down in policy details, such as $12 vs. $15. Rural voters see this as tone deaf or out of touch. A federal minimum wage that high might work in suburban areas, but would be out of reach for a lot of rural businesses, and unnecessarily high because of the lower cost of living. It would be too low to survive in New York City.

Instead, we should focus on the message we sometimes used, that “I believe someone working 40 hours a week should not live in poverty,” and leave the dollar amounts open to local adjustments. With that as your goal, it can be done. It would not be a top-down big-government approach. It flows naturally from a statement of belief and would be right-sized to each area where it’s implemented.

[TheBlackAdder]

32. Having had a small farm, most like to keep things simple, more relaxed and less strenuous

.

These communities are very close-knitted and there is a strong sense of doing things how they were. Sure, they embrace new technology to do work, for vehicles and the like, but the community helps to keep everyone in line. People are ostracized if they have opposing viewpoints, and often clergy and the town folk ensure complacency.

If you are ostracized, they'll essentially try to drive you out of the community. You'll feel it at the local store, at church, at the local diner, town functions, etc.


One thing that hurts is complex messaging. Keep it simple, straight forward and true to fact.

.

[2naSalit]

37. +1

[Skittles]

134. so much for the bullshit about how friendly rural folk are

[Joinfortmill]

33. Local TV stations, newspapers owned by far right.

[bringthePaine]

36. Clinton let the Fairness Doctrine disappear, and this shit is the result

[Meadowoak]

86. I always thought GWB was responsible for killing the fairness doctrine.

[LeftInTX]

96. It was Reagan

[tenderfoot]

108. Clinton wasn't President in 1987

[Evolve Dammit]

39. Hate radio, fox, generations of racism, peer pressure. "Yer with us or yer agin us." Had someone

actually say that to a rural-living, co-worker when the MAGAT train started up.

[mrsadm]

40. They drive pickups, drink beer, and shoot animals (hunt)

I'm saying this having lived in a rural area for 30 years. Neighbors fly tfg flags. Saw a truck recently driving fast flying a "fu** Biden" flag. They will not change their opinions with any reasoned argument, IMHO. I believe it's based on emotions of defiance.

[gulliver]

41. "This is more cultural that's at play and identity politics that's at play than economic policies,"

... said Rep. Ron Kind (D-Wis.), who represents a largely rural district and who is stepping down next year. “And I think Democrats develop a blind spot to that and not being more sensitive to some of those cultural issues.”

The above is from the article. Basically, we need to grow up and wise up in many ways. It won't be easy with the media constantly prodding for foolishness in the name of emotion and simplistic storytelling.

[twodogsbarking]

44. As I have heard my wife say ( many times )

I don't get it.

We both are from Centra Pennsavainya .

[TheDemsshouldhireme]

45. I also live in deep red PA

Last edited Sun Nov 7, 2021, 01:11 PM - Edit history (2)

so I think I know what Im talking about. I would agree guns is probably the no. 1 issue. Rural whites are convinced that the Dems are coming for their guns. I wonder how many non PA residents would know that schools are closed the Monday after Thanksgiving for the first day of deer hunting season. My county in the election a week ago voted to make our county a 2nd amendment sanctuary, for real.

The other part of it as the old blue collar factory jobs have been moving out for decades and the population of places like Johnstown, Altoona keeps falling decade after decade its much easier to blame foreigners. There is a cognitive dissonance that when these towns were flying high, I'm sure there were plenty of immigrants moving in(Irish, Italians, Poles, Hungarians, Slovaks, etc). I would say most of these counties are 95% plus white, yet republicans telling them Mexicans and Muslims are the boogie man and they eat that up.

Hate and fear are the bread and butter of republican messaging. There is no denying it really works on rural whites.

If I was doing democratic messaging I would put up billboards that say....keep voting republican until no one lives here. Because these towns are not seeing growth and prosperity despite the empty promises of local republicans. who they keep voting for. Isn't the sign of insanity doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. The only people raising my taxes are local republicans, because as the population continues to decline, there is less of a tax base to support the new school, and government services like policing.

[Amishman]

131. agreed that guns is a probably the single biggest reason (I'm also in red PA)

I know quite a few people who would probably be inclined or at least persuadable towards voting for us if you remove guns from the equation. They're very anti-wall street, pro worker's rights; yet loudly support and vote for the Pubs every election because of gunz.

[LiberatedUSA]

141. I know quite a few as well.

There is no way you can phrase “I want you to open your gun safe and see what you have, so I can say this or that is only for killing lots of people as quickly as possible so I will be introducing legislation for your area that says only the cops we protest in the streets should have it” that is going to make a rural gun owner go:

“Well that sounds about what I need. I want to be at everyone’s mercy and have California’s voters control my gun safe. That settles it! You have my vote!”

[Wild blueberry]

46. Quit blaming rural voters

Dems need to say loud and proud--and often--what we stand for and what we offer.
Remind everyone, urban and rural, that we are FOR a living wage, health care, clean air and water, and equal opportunity for all. Be positive.
As a transplanted urbanite living in rural Wisconsin for the last twenty years, I've gotten to know people here. Rural people are not a monolithic group. Stop judging, start listening. We have to do the hard work of connecting, one by one.
Thank you.

[KentuckyWoman]

113. Thank you.

[world wide wally]

47. Their circles of influence are so much smaller.

They appeal to base emotions and influence their neighbors. The most active people are Fox News freaks.

[aggiesal]

50. Unfortunately, RW Radio controls their mind ...

Even if (D)'s ran commercials proclaiming all the benefits they've given them like farm subsidies and bailouts, (R)'s will broadcast that they did those things or that those benefits don't exist.
Their minds are easily controlled.

[JohnnyRingo]

55. My Brother-In-Law is a like minded farmer.

He tells me it's because farmers are the stupidest people he's ever met, and he knows a lot of farmers.

[bucolic_frolic]

56. Rurals have reinforcing genealogy, religious, business networks hyped with social media

Populations have lived there for many generations. Are inter-married. Support each others' businesses. One text can activate a network of several thousand over the next few weeks. Republicans are plugged into this network. Democrats are on the outside.

[LiberatedUSA]

58. "Hey rural America...

…why aren’t you voting for us? We only want to stick our nose in your gun safe and tell you this or that rifle or hand gun should not be there. Won’t you let our California gun laws into your rural town from way out here? Wait wait, why are you voting for the Republican!”

Rural America isn’t fond of the same legislation blue cities like. But that is just one possible reason out of many.

[ismnotwasm]

59. I'm in a rural area visiting my daughter

Eastern Washington. Cute little town.

It has a surprising left leaning minority, my daughter teaches out here. She says the kids still use “gay” as a slur, as well as “towelhead” as well as other fucked up terms. What she tells them, is, if they plan on being successful anywhere else, they need to knock it off, cause the world is very big with many kinds of people. They listen to her, a little.


But yeah, I’m in a part of the country where “”Trump won the illegal election” is spray painted at a rest stop port a potty.

[SamKnause]

67. I live in Ohio.

I live in rural America.

I have lived in rural America most of my 68 years.

I am a white female.

I do not have a college education.

I have never voted for a republican.

Some of my family members have never voted for a republican.

The ones with no college education vote for the Democratic party.

The ones with a college education vote for the Republican party.

My friends never vote for republicans.

I have never asked if they went to college.

I have never had a Democratic candidate knock on any of my doors.

I have lived at my current address 19 years.

Republicans have knocked on my door, but not 1 Democratic candidate has ever knocked on my door.

When voting this month I had to call Democratic headquarters to find out which candidates the Democratic Party

was supporting.

No party is listed on the ballot when voting for Trustees or for the Board of Education.

I tried doing research on the candidates but their information was only available on Facebook.

I am not on Facebook.

When it is a presidential election then I receive information on which candidates the Democratic party is supporting.

They should do this with every election and I suggested to the person I spoke with at Democratic headquarters.

I stated that local elections are very important and she agreed.

She thanked me for calling.

She found the information and called me back.

I had to call a different county to get any information, because my county does not have a Democratic headquarters.

This might be 1 reason some rural people never vote for the Democratic candidate.

[TheDemsshouldhireme]

71. Couldn't Agree more, same here is PA

When Dean did the 50 state strategy, we had a county democratic office. Not since then. The republicans have a very nice county headquarters.

To make a sports analogy, is like a football team that has good skill positions players and weak lines. You would think in the off season that team would address the weaknesses in the draft and free agency. The democrats have to get out here and start talking to people, instead residents get a caricature of democrats from shared facebook posts, talk radio, etc.

[SamKnause]

73. Thanks.

Sorry to hear it is the same in PA.

[LeftInTX]

97. It costs $$$ to have a physical HQ...

Many parties don't have the funds.
Some only have temporary HQ during presidential elections.

However, every county party should have a website and contact information.

I live in a large county. We do not endorse in non-partisan elections. (Long story, but it involves lots of drama within the party)

However Democratic clubs often endorse in non-partisan elections.

Rent for HQ will cost about $2,000 per month. Funds are needed to support HQ.

[Tree Lady]

112. I think a lot of democrats don't want to waste

Time and money but they should. We had a good candidate try few years back and while she didn't win she got more votes than other democrats. This last time no one bothered didn't even know who was running.

If somehow we could fund people to keep trying, keep getting our information out eventually maybe we could win but its a tough battle when you live in a area where all council members are republican, mayor is, congressman is, basically all offices. Churches on every corner telling them how to vote, their news and internet constant propaganda.

[orwell]

68. I live in a rural area...

...not to stereotype too much but guns are big (hunting, home protection) It is not unusual to hear gunfire crackling across the valley on the weekend.

Distrust of government is high. This has a lot to do with the pride of land ownership and individual control of resources. The myth of "self reliance" is almost a religion.

Churches are social gathering places and political organizing tools.

All of these things are right in the wheelhouse for the Con party's marketing efforts...

This is a corporate strategy for minority control that takes advantage of structural flaws in our political system. This is not an accident. This has been an ongoing elite corporate project since the 60's. You are finally seeing the result of the corporate takeover of our political system through media, finance, information technology, and psy ops. The Con party was just the convenient tactical tool.

[karynnj]

69. I wonder if part of the answer might be to design ads that speak to at least some of these

People in rural areas. I would guess that in urban areas, it is not white papers that get voters for us. In both cases, it is partially cultural. Obama spoke of it as religion and guns in one of his few unartful (his word) comments in speaking of the rural areas.

I wonder if we need to consider that it may not be rural, but a culture that has demonized Democrats. Consider Leahy, Sanders and Welch all win by huge margins in a state where the largest city is about 42,000 people. They win lots of rural votes and rural Vermonters know them well. Needless to say, their messages to Vermonters may not work elsewhere, but it suggests that not looking for a message that works and writing Tham off may be a very bad answer.

What if in each state or region, the party looks for Democrats in rural areas and asks them what parts of the Democratic agenda appeals to people around them. Ads that positively suggest solutions to their problems are being implemented and having Democratic candidates speak of their values and lives EARLY before Republicans frame them as something they are not.

[Buckeye_Democrat]

90. I think Democrats and "socialists" like Sanders...

... can win among those white rural voters because there's far fewer evangelical Christians there.

Vermont has the lowest percentage of evangelical Christians of any state in the USA. Their percentage is still way higher than Europe, but it's the closest to Europe than any other state in the country in that regard.

Evangelicals and their "good vs evil" ideas attached themselves to the Republican party in 1980, when the GOP put religious ideas into their actual platform for the first time, and they basically haven't trusted Democrats ever since. If Democrats like something, it just might be the devil's work.

I'll mention this yet again on DU. If none of the white evangelical voters had actually voted in 2016 and 2020, then Trump would've also lost the "white vote" like he did for every other racial group. That's how much the white evangelical 80%+ support for Trump influences these elections!

Edit: I'm not familiar enough with black evangelicals to know who their preachers are regularly demonizing, but I'm confident that they're doing it if they're truly evangelical -- i.e., compelling members to convert others to their beliefs because those others are fundamentally and deeply flawed otherwise.

[Progressive dog]

72. We may not like it but rural voters live mostly in

permanently depressed areas. They are more likely to know and have to live with their neighbors. Most rural areas are losing population, the better educated who haven't moved out yet are probably looking for job opportunities that no longer exist where they live.
It will be tough for Democrats to get the vote of many of those people who were left behind. The party should continue to focus on the suburbs.

[DallasNE]

74. Back In THe 1960's The Most Liberal Senators Were From States Like

Idaho, Montana, North & South Dakota and Iowa. And then came the Southern Strategy, which wasn't just the South but also the Mountain West and Plains states. Those areas were susceptible to immigration issues where the meat packing industry broke the labor unions and the immigrants took the now low paying jobs - both Mexican and Asian (Vietnamese). Republican always talk tough on immigration but do nothing about the owners that hire the undocumented immigrants.

[MineralMan]

75. That's a complicated question, actually.

To say that people in rural areas are less well educated is probably not the correct answer, though.

Instead, I think it's more about who benefits the most from the actions of any political party. Democrats tend to focus more on more heavily populated areas, both in campaigns and in measures recommended for legislative action. That can leave less-populated areas feeling like they're being ignored, unfortunately.

I'll give you an example: Agriculture is more or less a rural enterprise. I grew up in an agricultural area - a small town in California. Economically, agriculture was the primary industry where I grew up, and my parents owned a small citrus farm. Government basically ignored them, except when it was looking for regulations to impose on farmers. Year after year and decade after decade, more and more regulations were put on farming. Every one of those cost money to implement.

By the time my parents died this year, at age 96, it was no longer possible for their 15 acre citrus and avocado farm to realize any profit at all. None. It became more costly to operate their farm than the value of the crops. And yet, even in their last year of farming, additional costs were being added through regulations requiring expenditures of funds needed to operate their farm. As executor of their estate and trustee of the family trust that owned the farm, I saw the numbers myself after they died. Had it not been for their savings, which were made during the decades when profitability was still possible, they could not have continued to operate that farm.

Before their deaths, they had sold the farm to someone else and it was in escrow when they died. As trustee, I saw the sale through to a successful closing, and that's the end of that. What the new owner will do with the property, I do not know. I imagine, though, that all the trees in the orchards there will be removed and a different sort of use will be the nest step. Farm after farm in that area has stopped growing citrus crops, due to unprofitability.

Many of the costly regulations have to do with environmental issues, health concerns, and farming practices. Many have been introduced by Democratic administrations. They have not helped farmers continue to farm, I'm afraid, despite the legitimate need for many of those regulations. I'm not a farmer. I left my home town at age 18 and moved on.

Further, it is not just the farmers themselves who feel this lack of concern by the government. Every business in agricultural areas is dependent on agriculture. Everyone is affected. So, that's why voters in that area vote for Republicans, who say they'll stop doing that kind of thing. They're lying, of course, but that's what they say.

[Poiuyt]

78. Rural voters tend to vote based on values rather than economics

They worry about crime, immigration, political correctness--issues like these. Of course, there are a number of racists who will never vote for a Democrat.

[Polybius]

79. The same reason Republicans don't win the inner city vote

It's just how things are, and I accept that it won't change.

[Mr.Bill]

104. Maybe less broadband availability

so less informed voters. Big difference whether you get info from the internet or talk radio. I know the county I live in went blue after broadband arrived. Could be a coincidence, I guess.

[RicROC]

80. Democrats are labeled for raising taxes.

So, let's lift the cap on Social Security, totally remove it. Then, with a fresh supply of money coming in, drop the current tax rate down to 6% instead of the current 13+%. That's the Democratic way to REDUCE tax rates and yet provide sustainability.

Then WE talk about how WE reduce taxes. No more a Repub talking point.

[cilla4progress]

89. I agree with many of the ideas above.

I live in a rural area in eastern Washington state.

One contributing factor to the "conservativism" of rural areas is a type of nationalism or nativism borne of not knowing people different from themselves - ethnically, racially, religiously

There is (fortunately) a large Latinx population here. Migrant farmworkers who over the past 30 years have put down roots and now live here. They tend Christian - Catholic.

Almost zero Black people or Muslims or any other population.

So, basic fear and dislike of the "unknown". People here are easily subject to stereotypes.

[h2ebits]

92. This is a good article. . . .

I have a subscription to the Washington Post so I can read the whole article. I can't remember what the Southern Strategy was/is but I will say this:

The Democratic Party in each state should be working very hard to run candidates in every locally elected office in their states. EVERY SINGLE ELECTION WITHOUT FAIL. Instead, there appears to be a shrug and a "can't win so it's wasted money to try" attitude.

We know local radio is big because farmers listen to it for daily prices on their products--whether it be vegetables, fruits, poultry, beef, or pork. Then they continue listening because it's their station. We need to be a part of it!

The radio in my car is tuned to NPR because their news reporting is good but I have to admit that I changed my station recently because I got tired of listening to all the opinions and the interviews and conjecture. I'm not into "clutching pearls," just actions to get the results. At least for the time being, now, I listen to music while I'm driving and whatever drivel is on the non-news channel where I can relax.

I'm retired and spend a number of hours every day trying to stay on top of the news. I'm truly grateful to all of the DU members who provide me with copious amounts of information from various MSM and other sources; but, I have to read it to take it in and that requires time--lots of it. When I was working full-time and raising my 3 kids, I did not have the time to stay on top of the news. If I was hearing it on the radio as I drove from place to place, great, otherwise forget it--and I had office jobs.

Farmers listen to the radio because it is their source of information and they can listen while they work. The Democratic Party is failing because it is being managed by people who refuse to listen and react to their needs and methods of communication.

[ratchiweenie]

98. I don't think we reach out to them. I remember when Bernie went to West Virginia and Kentucky?

He did town halls in rural areas about the opioid crisis and the ACA and what it could do for them and he really listened to him. They were very receptive to what he had to say and seemed surprised that a Democratic Socialist would come to their neck of the woods and talk to them like a friend and understood their problems. We don't seem to do much of that. I wish we would. We seem to stay in our corners and in our states instead of reaching out to people all over the country. Of course given the current climate, it might not even be safe to do that.

[moondust]

102. IMO it started long ago

with resistance to "progress"--which generally meant "industrialization" and increasing movement away from an agricultural economy that catered more to rural areas. The resistance was known as "conservatism" and the GOP was historically the "conservative" party.

Old habits and family traditions die hard.

In my lifetime it has been largely corporatism that killed rural America. Before Reagan's "greed is good" 1980s rural living was much more about "community" and quality of life and not so much about greed and getting rich. Then Walmart moved in and killed off countless small businesses in rural areas. Main street businesses in small towns were closed and boarded up never to return. The kids grew up and left for the cities to get an education and find jobs.

I don't know if it would help to occasionally remind rurals that democracy is a numbers game and thus political parties are naturally going to focus heavily on densely populated areas. But that does not mean they will be forgotten.

[Brainfodder]

103. Rep. controlled media.

Cheapest attack IMHO would be billboards all over the rural areas and backup when they get damaged?

If you have a rich donor, buy the radio stations and switch 'em up?

The same riches that got us to this moment are probably the same that can get us out?

The status quo rich and the their lazy same old tactics?
We need new ones?

[Kaleva]

107. Just 25% of the vote Trump got in MI came from counties considered rural or mostly rural.

At least in Michigan, the majority of people who tend to be less educated and who tune out white papers, sophisticated explanations and ignore statistics that show they'd be better off under Democrats live in counties considered urban or mostly urban.

Trump wouldn't have had a chance in '16 and '20 had he had to rely on a majority of his votes coming from rural areas

[forthemiddle]

109. Rural areas don't need government

They are much more self sufficient, and that is something that isn’t going to change.
When you live somewhere that takes 45 minutes for the county Sheriff to respond, or where every single county representative is your neighbor, there is a whole different look out at government.
I have lived in places that the county is 60 miles long, so if the Sheriff, or the ambulance for that matter is 45-60 minutes away, Government doesn’t mean a thing.
If the only thing you know is the Government trying to take away your guns, or tax you more, those things resonate.
It’s not a dislike of government, it’s the not needing ( in their minds) of government. It’s certainly not the education of them. And every time we insult them by saying they just aren’t smart enough to understand, we alienate them further.
I lived in rural areas my whole life, so I know the mindset.

[hunter]

145. Much of rural U.S.A. would look like a third world nation...

... without state and federal government support.

Rural U.S. Americans who claim they are "self sufficient" are some of the least resilient people on earth. The smallest perturbations can rip apart their families and communities.

Many government policies, starting in earnest with FDR's New Deal, were explicitly designed to stabilize these fragile rural communities.

[traitorsgalore]

116. Frankly they're dumb as fck, filthy disease-spreading covidiots that are horrible to be around

The Post holds back, doesn't call most repukes what they are, despicable humans that have such pathologically low self-esteem that they hate everyone with an IQ over 80.

I'm talking about the repugs that the rest of us Americans are supposed to "reach out to" or "work with". I'm not talking about any non-repugs, just the insurrectionist, anti-science, anti-equal rights, gun nut, fake xtians. Fuck them now and for forever, mankind is better off without catering to them and their self-destructive false belief systems.

[Skittles]

125. I too am sick of being told I need to "understand" these folk

I understand them all too well which is why I despise them....I wish Dems would work on the people who fail to vote and write off these Trump-humping yahoos.

[dalton99a]

140. +1. They're goddamn hypocrites

They HATE the government, but it's the government that makes it possible for them to live there - road construction, postal service, healthcare (Medicare/Medicaid/CHIP/ACA), food stamps, farm subsidies, agricultural extension, Clean Water Act, etc., etc.

Most of them are hateful, willfully ignorant racists

[Skittles]

147. I have lived city, suburb and rural

I get so tired of hearing about how "friendly" rural folk are - it's just conditional hypocrisy - these folk claim to be Christians but they approved of a pussy grabbing con man? Sick, sick, sick.

[budkin]

119. God and guns

And lack of education.

[Iggo]

120. Because we don't live there. (n/t)

[misanthrope]

123. My sister just finished writing a white paper not long ago

She is as steadfast, dyed-in-the-wool, Christian conservative as they come.

[Roisin Ni Fiachra]

138. Vicious cycle of peer pressure, Fascist radio, illiteracy/semi-literacy,

lack of education, insular RW religion, and Fox News.

The smarter kids see through the bullshit, and leave for bluer pastures.

[Johnny2X2X]

142. Small town America has been decimated by manufacturing falling

Small town factories were never going to be able to compete globally, so many of them closed. And nothing replaced them, save for the prison industry in many places. The family farm was replaced by the corporate farm and many family farms just live off their government subsidies now. People in small towns feel left behind and are vulnerable to GOP lies about why they've been left behind.

I am hopeful that the service economy, work from home options, and property values can push more educated people into small towns to revitalize their local economies. I know of several people who are moving to small towns who would have never considered it if not for WFH.

[ripcord]

148. I live in the largest county in the lower 48 and it is red

San Bernardino County California, it is mostly desert and rural. I went to hear a Democrat candidate for state congress person and I knew she was going to lose. The big issues to the people are meth labs, illegal pot farms and keeping the area rural. She addressed none of these things but spoke on paving roads and bringing in large corporations to increase people's desire to move here. Needless to say the election wasn't close.