Biden's win hides a dire warning for Democrats in rural U.S.

[question everything]

(snip)

While Democrats powered through cities and suburbs to reclaim the White House, the party slid further behind in huge rural swaths of northern battlegrounds. The party lost House seats in the Midwest, and Democratic challengers in Iowa, Kansas, Montana and North Carolina Senate races, all once viewed as serious threats to Republican incumbents, fell, some of them hard.

Though Democrats’ rural woes aren’t new, they now heap pressure on Biden to begin reversing the trend. Failure to do so endangers goals such as curbing climate change and winning a Senate majority, especially with GOP Senate seats in Iowa, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin up in 2022. “The pressure for Democrats has to be on conveying an economic message for rural America,” said Iowa Democrat John Norris, a former candidate for governor. “We have a great one to convey, but we haven’t put enough emphasis on it.”

(snip)

Trump lost Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania, after winning all three in 2016. But he won at least 60% of the vote in 126 counties in the three — 14 more than in 2016, according to Associated Press and state elections data. All of those counties are lightly populated. Perhaps more telling, Trump increased his winning percentages in 90% of the counties where he reached the 60% mark in those three states four years ago. That includes all 24 counties where he won at least 70% of the vote last time, even while Biden was vastly outspending Trump on advertising.

Perhaps more telling, Trump increased his winning percentages in 90% of the counties where he reached the 60% mark in those three states four years ago. That includes all 24 counties where he won at least 70% of the vote last time, even while Biden was vastly outspending Trump on advertising. Trump's greater dominance in rural Ohio surprised even Republican strategists. In Ohio's 6th Congressional District, 18 counties that hug the Pennsylvania border and Ohio River, Trump improved from 64% of the vote to more than 66%.

(snip)

Though Biden fulfilled Democrats' long-sought goal of carrying Georgia and Arizona, albeit narrowly, it wasn't because he concentrated on reaching beyond their metro hubs, said Steve Jarding, a veteran Democratic strategist who has long argued for greater party engagement in rural America. Jarding worries that by winning Arizona, Georgia and the northern swing states without addressing the rural economy, Democrats might believe the states are now trending their way as the result of favorable population and demographic shifts.

(snip)

Biden campaigned little in person, even less in rural areas. Trump, on the other hand, whipped up enthusiasm at rallies in places like Wausau, Wisconsin, in the state's rural north where he dominated, as well as Saginaw in Mid Michigan, and Johnstown, Pennsylvania, surrounded by counties he carried by more than 70%, even 80%. Democrats also spent little time and money combatting Trump's attacks. Unanswered, Trump's claims that Biden and other Democrats are proponents of socialism and eliminating police departments, as unfounded as they were, resonated in small towns, according to VoteCast, an Associated Press survey of the American electorate conducted by NORC at the University of Chicago. Democrats need to not just defend against attacks but recruit more candidates among rural Americans and argue that progressive policy is to their advantage.

More..

https://www.startribune.com/biden-s-win-hides-a-dire-warning-for-democrats-in-rural-u-s/573211021/


=====

Many here would say F**k rural America but we really cannot. Certainly not with the electoral college and with each state having two senators. And... do we really want to continue the divide - a major legacy of Whinny Donny?

[calguy]

1. The DNC has much work to do the next two years.

[TreasonousBastard]

2. Agreed absolutely-- Biden won, but we didn't do so good with Congress, and that must be fixed.

[question everything]

9. The truth is that many voted for Biden- R's and I's - to get rid of Trump

Not for the love of Democrats. I am sure that many split their votes. We will have to keep this in mind in 2022.

[RKP5637]

3. Survival of the country is going to depend on ALL of the country united and working together.

Divided, the US probably won't be around for the long haul IMO.

[roamer65]

4. Demographic change and rural depopulation is on the side of Democrats.

I think Democratic dollars are better spent in the urban and suburban areas of the country.

Speaking honestly, the Constitution is definitely showing its age and I don’t see efforts to change or amend it bearing fruit due to opposition from taker states like AL, MS, TN and KY.

I think northern blue states would be better off gearing up for some sort of independence/autonomy or confederation with Canada.

[Wellstone ruled]

6. Population shift helped

we Dems to capture Metro Areas at a loss to the Rural Areas. This trend has been happening since the late Seventies and as GOP Policies towards off shoring sped up,well we are seeing the end results. That is why the Electoral College has to be dumped.

[RKP5637]

14. Yes!!! Definitely, the Electoral College needs to be dumped. n/t

[Mister Ed]

5. This will never change while right-wing hate radio dominates the airwaves in rural America.

Bring back the Fairness Doctrine, or perish.

[kansasobama]

7. I agree it is going to be tough

Right wing hate radio is an issue. Plus rural America thinks one should not ask them to retrain for new jobs.

All you can hope for is margins.

I hope liberal Democrats go to rural areas to see what the issue is.

[question everything]

8. Senator Tester in MT, Klobuchar in MN, former MT governor Bullock

All know how to address rural America and win

[dsc]

13. Bullock just lost

honestly, I am hoping that when Trump leaves the scene, rural turnout will fall back down to the lower levels it used to be. I don't see us making any real inroads no matter what we do. Rural areas have become conservative wastelands for the most part and barring a population shift back to them, which is highly unlikely to say the least, they are going to remain that well into the future.

[murielm99]

43. There may be a population shift back to rural areas.

I am active with the county Democrats in two rural counties, and am acquainted with Democrats in several more. This is in a very red area of Illinois. I belong to a group that is under the Indivisible umbrella as well. I have been a Democratic activist in this area for more than forty years.

For the most part, the Democrats around here are union members, teachers, and people who have retired to this area.

I think the change could come post-pandemic. More people will be working from home. The nature of work will change.

People will be able to live anywhere. Rural areas will look inviting. Housing is cheaper here. There is less crime.

Demographic shift in the suburbs was more gradual. The pandemic is changing everything. I think the shift away from cities and suburbs to rural areas will come more quickly.

[treestar]

54. Yes, the ability of technology

that you can work anywhere could undo some of this urban/rural divide. If you don't have to be in the big city to work at a good job, rural areas will be cheaper to live in.

[doc03]

17. "I hope liberal Democrats go to rural areas to see what the issue is" It doesn't take a genius to

figure that out. There is a handful of far left Democrats and Bernie that turns them off to the party. The reason that Trump
lost is because he is so hated in the urban areas. But the country as a whole is not happy with Democrats either.

[Zipgun]

37. Well in Florida the ONLY people who were trying to make any in roads to the rural areas were

progressive groups OUTSIDE the state party leadership. 12 of Florida's counties didn't even have any formal democratic organization a couple years ago, not sure if that has changed. Maybe progressives aren't the enemy. Is there going to be friction between progressive and more moderate and conservative democrats, absolutely. But I haven't seen party leadership do much different the past few election cycles. Dean (who had an aggressive 50 state strategy) was pushed out of the DNC leadership and replaced with Tim Kaine (who's election strategy revolved around rebranding the logo). Then came Debbie Wasserman Schultz and her disastrous term as DNC chair. (Her interference in Florida state leadership has also been disastrous). Maybe it's time to return to more aggressive out reach and stop letting hate radio define the party every election cycle to the rural voters.

[dustyscamp]

44. We really need to figure out how to work with one another.

We have a lot of pig-headed people in the party that think the old ways of doing things are the only way of doing things, and on the other side, we have arrogant progressives who feel entitled to power. If we are going to keep the House, the Presidency and win the Senate we will need party unity now more than ever.

[Kaleva]

10. Interestingly, Trump got more votes in the urban counties of MI then he did in the rural counties

In Wayne county (Detroit and surrounding suburbs) alone, Trump got about 250,000 votes and that's more then the votes he got in total in all 15 counties of Upper Michigan and much of northern Lower Michigan

250,000 is 100 times more votes then what Trump got in my rural county.

[fearnobush]

11. I do believe a big part of the issue is huge anti gun and firearm stigma Dems have in the hinterland

The rural areas make up large contingents of hunters and gun enthusiasts. Not once during the 2020 campaign did I here “No one is going to take your gun away” as was often said during the Obama campaigns.

[Straw Man]

15. Yup.

Gun control is the mother of all wedge issues, and it loses votes far more than it makes advances in public safety.

[Muriel]

12. Keith Olbermann about poor/rural red states

[Mariana]

16. I hope President Biden will order the IRS to vigorously enforce the Johnson Amendment.

Thousands of churches are preaching that loyalty to Trump and Republicans are essentially a tenet of their Christian faith. Christian radio and television ministries are also doing it. Their tax exempt status has to be revoked.

[NameAlreadyTaken]

18. The rural areas hate all Democrats and liberals

They hate them categorically. It doesn't matter who: the Clintons, Obama, Biden, Pelosi, whoever. The mere fact that they have the (D) after their name is all that matters to them. That is as far as they can think.

We live in a deep red county in Nevada (82% Trump). We are familiar with these people. These people will never vote for a Democrat, no matter what is said or done.

[catbyte]

19. Sorry, but I've had it up to here with hearing how we need to coddle the whiners in rural areas. As

long as right-wing AM radio is allowed to spew hate and lies unchecked, Democrats will never reach them. Perhaps COVID will "thin the herd" because they seem to think it's all a big "Democrat hoax" designed to make Dear Leader look bad. To them, we're nothing but a bunch of godless commie/socialist/fascist baby killers who want to destroy America.

I'll probably get scolded for this, but I know these people and they're utterly hopeless. They will have to go through actual cult deprogramming to break the spell. I'm too tired to care. Concentrate on urban/suburban areas and outvote them.

[Heartstrings]

21. I agree wholeheartedly catbyte!

Their self righteous, cavalier attitudes boggle my mind, not to mention exhaust my patience!

[Sewa]

35. Seems like there's a concerted effort to move

the Democratic Party to the right.

I think that’s the underlying message of Joe Scum’s Truman book. Be more conservative like Harry.

[brush]

45. I'm with you. As long as 24/7 hate radio and winger TV is spewing...

we have little chance in the red areas. We did well in 2018 when the blue wave took seats in suburban areas, not red, rural areas.

Unfortunately we lost a few House seats with the republicans associating some of our candidates with radical socialism. That happens and it doesn't help that two nationally prominent and outspoken Dems are actually socialist.

I don't know how we fix that but if Joe does well and beats back covid and gets relief finally passed we could have some gains in 2024 as many more republican Senate seats will be up for grabs.

[cstanleytech]

20. The problem reaching rural americans is largely due to the fact that alot of the radio stations are

controlled by a handful of conservative owners and the message they send their listeners and the rest of the right wing controlled media such as fox news simply reinforces their meme.
About the only way we can break that is by breaking up the conservatives control over the number of radio stations.

[dustyscamp]

22. If we ever get rid the conservatives ability to control these radio stations

It will take a few election cycles to deprogram these maga bastards. The Dems in office will also need to have high approval ratings across the board to help change some minds.

[Jon King]

25. They listen to right wing radio on purpose...

Just won't work. These people have choices, CNN, MSNBC, internet. But they choose to listen to right wing radio. Randi Rhodes had a great show but they would not listen to her if you paid them. Right wing radio does not make them, it just says what they already think.

[cstanleytech]

42. They listen to it because the right controls most of the stations. If we instituted ownership

limitations it would break the rights ability to coordinate their message and influence as much of the rural areas that they currently are able to do.

[Jon King]

23. Then you lose progressives and the young and the suburbs....

Sorry, its impossible to do it all. The young and progressives and suburban people want action. Try and placate the rural folks and you lose the Dem base.

The suburbs of NC, TX, GA, NC are expanding, demographics are on Dems side. The only option is to never let a Repub be President again.

If the Dems ever get Congress again, admit DC as a state and expand the courts. This trying to do it all means losing incentive for the young to vote and then we get another Trump someday. We must focus on one task, keep the presidency which means we simply will not be able to appeal to rurals while keeping the Biden coalition intact.

[patphil]

24. What needs to be understood here is that many of the states with large rural populations

have two Senators, even if they have a small statewide population.
The Republicans have been catering to the rural populations of those states, like the Dakotas, Idaho, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana, and others.
It doesn't get them a lot of electoral votes, but it has been very effective in giving them control of the Senate.
And, with Mitch McConnell to run the show, they have been successful in pursuing their legislative agenda while blocking Democratic attempts to pursue theirs.

When you look at Biden's margin of victory, most of it came from his large victories in just a few of states. California and New York making up the lion's share of it.
Lots of electoral votes in those 2 states, but only 4 Senators.

We need to broaden our base to include more of rural America, or be resigned to continually fighting uphill battles in Congress...battles we will often lose.

[TheFarseer]

26. We have nothing to counter their message in rural areas

Hate radio, right wing internet, Fox News and the guys at the cafe/church/what have you are where people get their news and it’s all very conservative. It’s really just become their “team” at this point. You root for the Huskers on Saturday and the Republicans on Election Day. Frankly I don’t know how this will change. No matter what negative thing you can say about Republicans, they are convinced it’s either a total lie(climate change for example) or that the Democrats are actually the ones trying to do it(getting rid of Medicare for example). They have really freaked out over Covid restrictions. For example shutting down churches in April gave them half a leg to stand on for the old claim the Democrats are going to outlaw Christianity. I really think Covid restrictions were very damaging to us in rural areas, right or wrong.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

27. I know I should care, but I'm just so fucking tired

of people voting against their own self-interest. Let them suffer the consequences. Let them get EXACTLY what they voted for.

In a similar way, I'm tired of the posts about some anti-mask/the Covid is a hoax stories of relatives who are now desperately ill from the virus. What the fuck did they expect? Why should they get ANY sympathy. The genuinely tragic thing is that they then take up valuable medical resources because they totally brought it upon themselves.

ANYONE who attended a large gathering yesterday does not get any kind of a pass from me when they or someone else in that group gets sick. Just don't go to a hospital, please and thank you. Stay home. Die quietly. You'll be doing us all a favor.

And for all the Trumpistas who will be shocked, just shocked when their own taxes go up, when their own Social Security is cut, when their kid's public school is defunded, when the local hospital in their rural area closes, all I can say is: "What did you expect?"

[pazzyanne]

34. Major truth is...

..."people voting against their own self-interest."

[PatrickforO]

28. Well, AOC is on record as saying we need to do some 'deep canvassing'

with white working class voters on things like healthcare, unions, and yes, racism.

Deep canvassing.

Basically, we have to work to EDUCATE the electorate in opposition to the constant drumbeat of the right-wing noise machine.

AOC is right.

But it is a tall order.

[Tom Rivers]

49. Steyer, Bloomberg, and other Dem money guys need to fund Dem networks

That and voter registration drives/network building is where they can be of most use in the party. Mostly talk radio. Not super far left progressives, but gradually bring them over with more moderate, center-left talkers. Talkers with a rural voice and who can play therapist to these rural right wingers and get them to channel their anger at GOP who cut their benefits rather than Dems for culture wars bullshit.

Dems in rural areas maybe need to run as republicans or independents to win voters, then try to do some center-left things in office instead of hard-right. Reverse psychology.

Slowly but surely ween them away from far right radio and tea party representation. As a rural democrat myself, it's really the only way I can see it getting better anytime soon.

[SlogginThroughIt]

29. I can no longer

I can no longer reach out to people that want to call me baby killer, socialist, traitor, communist, what is wrong with the country, the death of America. I am sorry I have zero fucks left to give these people. They do not live where the majority of people live and they hate me, and would sooner spit on me than listen to me. Fuck them. They can watch they communities dwindle and watch their way of life die. I have zero fucks left to give these people. We have tired to reach them for decades and have always been told we aren't doing enough to reach them. When they have even a gnats fart amount of interest in connecting with me I might consider their plight. But for too long theyb have said so much nasty shit about me and my country that I just don't have the ability to hear what theyb have to say anymore. Fuck them. We have the money, we have the population.

[BasicallyComplicated]

30. What do we offer them?

Honestly it has to start with that simple question. The answer at this point for most is nothing. Rual communities don't see police reform as an issue. They go to church with the deputies and see the sherif at at the high school football games. Race relations are just fine. All the black people they know are friendly and don't make trouble. They don't "want" a new doctor so why change healthcare. You see the issues aren't as complex as "we" make them. We need to find ways to make our talking points crossover or at least not sound foreign. Conversations about relief packages should begin with rual areas in mind first.

[Laelth]

55. Entertainment. Most of them are colossally BORED.

They have bread (mostly). What we need to offer them is circuses.

-Laelth

[BasicallyComplicated]

56. I dont disagree...

I the hate and piss the other guys offer can be quite enjoyable if you let it. Lol

[myohmy2]

31. time will tell..

"...do we really want to continue the divide..."

...we didn't start or create the divide, the divide will continue, we have no choice...

...but I have faith,

...

[pazzyanne]

32. I live in rural America and it is pretty red here.

Not just Republicans but trumpers. I fear I am surrounded by "the poorly educated".

[Polybius]

33. Product name and image changes in 2020 hurt us a lot

Not that elected Democrats had anything to do with it, but we got the blame for it.

[Yavin4]

36. Don't blame the Dems. Blame late stage capitalism.

The type of laborer that today's capitalism desires the most and rewards the most are those with higher educational levels, particularly in the tech and other sciences fields. Blue states like CA and VA invest heavily in their universities and colleges, Cal Tech and Va Tech. These schools attract talent from all over the globe. And the people who attend these schools are not homogenous. They are ethnically, racially, and religiously diverse.

Given the market for entertainment and other fine arts, it takes very open minded people to create movies, TV shows, music, etc. These kinds of people are going to be in short supply in rural areas of America unless its being used as a backdrop.

There is no policy agenda that the Democrats that can overtake late stage capitalism. Even if we bring back every factory in China, we would have to open up the floodgates to immigration in order to replicate the output that those Chinese factories can deliver unless you want to wait 5 years for the next iPhone.

[James48]

38. Simple- Abortion.

That one issue is what moves many to republicans, even though they are what any of us would call moderates.

There needs to be room in the Democratic Party for a pro life voice- one that says it’s ok to be a Democrat, and be pro life.

Not pushing for any laws to prohibit abortion- but simply a place that says reasonable people can have differing opinions on abortion, and still agree that we can do far more to help each other - with things like medical assistance, child care, financial support, adoption encouragement, friendly tax policy to help educate and support women who do choose to keep their children.

http://democratsforlife.org make a place for pro life citizens to contribute their ideas.

If you want to secure rural voters, you have to change the language of the platform to make it a big tent party.

[JonLP24]

48. I actually seen Republicans suggest they soften their stance on abortion

The Republican said focus on pro life charity groups rather than trying to change the laws to try to win over more Democratic voters. I would say let them change their platform to a more liberal one before we become more conservative or focus on issues where they are left on such as ending never ending wars and better trade deals.

I don't really care about the abortion issue but I understand there are some issues we shouldn't compromise on. Unsafe abortions are a problem in developing countries and strongly disagree with the attempts by the GOP to take us back to the dark ages.

[greenjar_01]

39. Thought there was a four paragraph rule on snips

Oh well. Guess it's OK to open the admins up to copyright violation lawsuits. Do watcha like, am I right?

[DallasNE]

40. There Is A Reason

The Baptist Church is basically segregated. The southern Baptist Church is racist. If you want to make inroads into rural America you need to have a racist message and I will never support that. Never. Then take a look at Cardinal Dolan in NYC. He preaches hate constantly. Lastly, look at Justice Gorsuch. He just ruled that State government cannot direct that churches can be required to follow the same rules as private businesses when it comes to health restrictions during a pandemic. And he concluded with a "take that" comment to "secularists". With the establishment clause dead it is time to tax religious organizations the same as other businesses. Rather than preaching love they now preach hate and the GOP damn well better walk in lock step with them. America has somehow lost their footing as a secular nation - never mind that the Founding Fathers went out of their way to separate church and state. The Supreme Court decides what the meaning of the words in the Constitution means and right now they are deciding that the Constitution cannot conflict with the Bible. How else can you explain decisions like Hobby-Lobby, Citizens United and the recent decision saying health concerns take a backseat to religion, especially the Mater Dei sect of the Catholic Church - of which a majority on the Supreme Court belong - all 3 Trump appointees plus Thomas and Alito.

Given all of this there is no way to make inroads in rural America. Whites now vote more overwhelming for the Republican candidate in those rural areas than do blacks in the inner-city. And it all starts in the church where the racists find sanctuary. And with Gorsuch providing the protection it is not about to change. Frankly, I think Biden ran the campaign he had to run in order to win in a turnout election where he got 80 million votes. Rather than rural white votes, Democrats need to be more concerned about the Hispanic vote. Why putting people in cages and separating kids from parents with no hope of reuniting them didn't do more harm in the Hispanic community is the real headscratcher. Yes, I do understand why "socialism" scares Hispanics but there is no evidence that what Democrats propose is the type of socialism that they fled so some major messaging changes are in order.

[MFM008]

46. How much loss

Was due to republicans destruction of the Post office and voter suppression?
Not saying there is not work to do, its ridiculous to assume the election wasnt stolen in some places

FROM US.

[Initech]

47. The key to winning 2024 is in rural America.

And, I have said this many times before, but if Dems want to start flipping cities and states, we have to reach out to religious voters and evangelicals. We cannot ignore the fact that 90% of evangelicals had a heavy favoritism toward Trump. Despite that he goes against everything they supposedly stand for.

But we must reach out even if it's dangerous and scary because whoever controls the evangelical vote will control the course of the country. And right now they have been steered towards the dark side. It's time to right that ship.

[Tom Rivers]

50. Evangelicals are a lost cause

They want us to knife LGBT folks and that's a non-starter for myself and many other Democrats who have LGBT relatives/friends or are part of that community themselves. Even if on the abortion issue we talk more coded like 90's Dems did (which we probably should) they still want more on other social issues. Abolishing abortion is NOT the evangelical end game.

I support their right to worship. I support them being entitled to their own beliefs on personal life morality. I even support optional, student-led prayer in school before classes start. I don't support them being entitled to regulate what others do in their own sex lives. And for a strong majority of them, that last part cancels out the previous three and means that I'm attacking their faith.

[GulfCoast66]

52. I respectfully disagree. I grew up evangelical.

The only way we reach them is to abandon our core beliefs.

They live in an artificial world. They will forever vote against their own physical and fiscal self interest because god. We are not changing that.

No way, no how. I know them. They are my family.

[chriscan64]

51. I live in a rural county just south of San Antonio.

I moved here after Hurricane Katrina from New Orleans so I can only speak as a semi-detached observer. I do not claim to have some solution, but I can describe the headwinds. The battle is as much against perception than anything else. The generally accepted albeit incorrect assessment of Democratic policies is that they are all cooked up in some faraway place by outsiders intended to take something away, or impose some unwanted restriction upon their day to day activities.

We here on this site understand that the Democratic Party is a broad tent that includes progressives and moderates, but here in Texas, the entire party is branded with the image of our most progressive voices. I am not suggesting that these voices be silent. The enemy is the republican and right wing media lie about us. The uphill struggle against this lie is not that minds were "converted" by the right wing media sources, it is that many are predisposed to agree with them in the first place. I understand the impatience with incrementalism, but there are areas where positive change will happen slowly or not at all.

[treestar]

53. It's less of a problem at that level

The red states and swing states still have urban areas too, and those are generally blue. So turning out those votes worked - Biden won without the rural votes, even if Dump got more of them than he did last time.

On this level, it's not so much a worry. Getting out the urban vote works.