'The brand is so toxic': Dems fear extinction in rural US

[riversedge]

We have to start somewhere--and going into the rural areas will help--but it will take courage and Years**of work.
Very interesting article--more examples included.




‘The brand is so toxic’: Dems fear extinction in rural US

https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-elections-pennsylvania-lifestyle-election-2020-fc79679ef54d850c0245f96dac37456c


By STEVE PEOPLES 42 minutes ago



SMETHPORT, Pa. (AP) — Some Democrats here in rural Pennsylvania are afraid to tell you they’re Democrats.

.................

“The hatred for Democrats is just unbelievable,” said Tim Holohan, an accountant based in rural McKean County who recently encouraged his daughter to get rid of a pro-Joe Biden bumper sticker. “I feel like we’re on the run.”



The climate across rural Pennsylvania is symptomatic of a larger political problem threatening the Democratic Party ahead of the 2022 midterm elections. Beyond losing votes in virtually every election since 2008, Democrats have been effectively ostracized from many parts of rural America, leaving party leaders with few options to reverse a cultural trend that is redefining the nation’s political landscape.


The shifting climate helped Republicans limit Democratic gains in 2020 — the GOP actually gained House seats despite former President Donald Trump’s loss — and a year later, surging Republican rural support enabled Republicans to claim the Virginia governorship. A small but vocal group of party officials now fears the same trends will undermine Democratic candidates in Ohio, Wisconsin, Georgia, North Carolina and Pennsylvania, states that will help decide the Senate majority in November, and the White House two years after that.

Meanwhile, the Democratic Party continues to devote the vast majority of its energy, messaging and resources to voters in more populated urban and suburban areas.

In Pennsylvania, Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, a leading candidate in the state’s high-stakes Senate contest, insists his party can no longer afford to ignore rural voters. The former small-town mayor drove his black Dodge Ram pickup truck across five rural counties last weekend to face voters who almost never see statewide Democratic candidates.

Fetterman, wearing his signature hooded sweatshirt and gym shorts despite the freezing temperatures, described himself as a champion for “the forgotten, the marginalized and the left-behind places” as he addressed roughly 100 people inside a bingo hall in McKean County, a place Trump carried with 72% of the vote in 2020.

“These are the kind of places that matter just as much as any other place,” Fetterman said as the crowd cheered.
......................................................






Democratic candidate for the Pennsylvania U.S.senate seat in the 2022 primary election, Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, arrives for a campaign stop at the Mechanistic Brewery, in Clarion, Pa., Saturday, Feb. 12, 2022. The Democratic Party's brand is so toxic in some parts of rural America that liberals are removing bumper stickers and refusing to acknowledge their party affiliation publicly. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic)
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[PortTack]

1. Rural America is a dying place. ppl vote not places. It's not to be ignored, but it's not the future

JMHO this is given way too much media attention.

As far as bumper stickers and yard signs. Ask Beto fans about their yard signs in places like Houston

[Cheezoholic]

22. Seriously?

What is the future? Elites city folk? Need to check yourself when you call rural America a dying place. Rural America created the modern Democratic party and yea, they got left behind 40 years ago.

[ms liberty]

23. This is a good reply. n/t

[PortTack]

38. The future is the millennials, and no they don't live in rural areas. This isn't an attack

Check myself? Look at the shift in populations and ages, you’ll find that yes rural America is a shrinking demographic...it’s just the facts...like it or not. We have to spend the larger percentage of our time and money appealing to the future of our party, the young voter is the future..
The history of the party, yes rural.

Living in rural areas
13% of gen z
18% of millennials

https://www.livingfacts.org/en/facts/demographics/2019/02/13-percent-of-members-of-generation-z-live-in-rural-areas

[Moebym]

44. Not all city folk are "elite" as you claim.

[prodigitalson]

46. You think Houston, Dallas and San Antonio is full of elites?

They are working class Hispanics and AAs They are the fastest growing parts of the state while Texas's White, rural areas are declining in population and would literally vote for Vladimir Putin over any Democrat. Any money spent here in QAnon country is political malpractice. Louis Gomhert gets 80 percent of the vote in my county.

[elleng]

2. Have Iowans rejected Democratic values?

https://www.democraticunderground.com/105111188

"I Was the Governor of Montana. My Fellow Democrats, You Need to Get Out of the City More."

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100216115049

[DFW]

7. I give you a personal friend of mine from Iowa

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rob_Sand

My bet is that within ten years he is either Iowa's governor or Senator, or maybe even both.

All is not lost, by a long shot.

[elleng]

8. Excellent!

My brother lives in Fairfield.

[Lemon Lyman]

10. Wow!

So does mine!!

[elleng]

13. WOW!

Lemon Lyman!!!

@ M I U?

[Lemon Lyman]

21. :-)

Nope. Not Maharishi. Before he bought his current house his old landlord was a of part of it though. I forget the guy's birth name, but his chosen name was Julalabeen or Julaladeen. That guy was a jerk, but that's a story for another day!

I live near Dubuque. Iowa the state sucks, but I really dislike it down by Fairfield. FF is okay on its own (fairly liberal...unfortunately there plenty of crunchy granola anti-vax types). Southern IA is not my jam though. If one does have to live in IA, I prefer the bigger city areas and/or the Eastern part of the state, more N than S.

Dubuque is so-so. At least it's pretty around here (hills, Mississippi River, etc...). The FF area is like most of Iowa - flat farmland. Most of my immediate family lives in this state. I wish we could all GTFO'utta here. In the meantime, I wish we could turn it blue again.

edit: We do love us some Rob Sand!

[DFW]

12. We need about ten thousand more Democrats like Rob spread around the country

He is about 40, looks 19, born in a rural part of the State, talks the talk, know the people, is smart and keeps an open mind.

When he was in the middle of his campaign for State Auditor, we were together in Washington, DC, and I said he should take to Howard Dean for some pointers on his campaign. Rob said, gladly, but how do I get in touch with Howard Dean? I said, nothing easier than that. I took our my US cell phone, dialed Howard, and said there was someone he should talk to. I though they would talk for five minutes. They talked for half an hour. Howard later told me he though Rob sounded like some with a great future. He's off to a good start, anyway. I wanted him challenge Grassley this fall, but Rob thought he wouldn't have a chance. He does have an eye on the governor's seat, though he hasn't yet made a decision on that.

[elleng]

14. Ten thousand is a lot, but

there is a group/groups promoting: 'Run for Something.'

[DFW]

15. There are a lot of tiny municipal positions that can be filled by dedicated people

As for "Run For Something," I have never heard of them, at least under that name, but I DO know that starting about five years ago, Howard Dean and Hillary Clinton were quietly starting up a multi-pronged project to do EXACTLY what this Run For Something states as its purpose. Maybe that's a coincidence, but maybe not. I'll have to ask him about that.

[elleng]

16. Looks like I got the name right:

a progressive American political organization dedicated to recruiting and supporting young candidates running for down-ballot office. Its mission is to get young progressive candidates from non-traditional backgrounds to run for and win state and local offices, and create a next generation slate of political candidates that will seek higher office in the future.[1]

It was founded on January 20, 2017 — the day of the inauguration of Donald Trump as President — by Amanda Litman, the email director of Hillary Clinton's 2016 U.S. presidential campaign, and Ross Morales Rocketto, a veteran of political campaigns.[2][3]

In May 2017, political action organization Onward Together, founded by Clinton, selected Run for Something as one of its three primary partner organizations.[4] In the 2017 Virginia elections, Run for Something-endorsed candidates won more than 40 percent of their races, almost four times the average for first-time candidates.[5]

National Run for Office Day, to occur annually one week after Election Day, was created by Run for Something in 2017 to encourage more young progressives to run for office.[6]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Run_for_Something

[DFW]

17. Ah, so that IS their baby. It sounded familiar. I had just never heard the name before.

But it did sound EXACTLY like what Howard described to me, and the timing is spot on. This is from when he told me about this. It was on his last visit to my adopted home town of Düsseldorf. Here with the then-mayor, Thomas Geisel, SPD.

[maxrandb]

49. I tend to disagree

[link:https://www.democraticunderground.com/100216121525|

[Budi]

3. Jfc. 🙄

That's his campaign?

[dchill]

5. He IS our Lieutenant Governor and the leading candidate.

[Budi]

4. Where's the polling saying he's the leading candidate?

[PatrickforB]

6. Not the Democratic brand that is toxic.

It is the rural evangelical Q kluxers that are toxic.

Sorry, but fuck 'em. Roll over them at the polls. We can start by forcing Manchin and Sinema to back the voting rights act. Then if they try any funny business, roll in the tanks.

I'm tired of having to walk on eggs because of these ignorant cretins.

[AZSkiffyGeek]

9. Send tanks in? What is this Tiannamen Square?

Jesus Christ, that’s a GREAT idea….

[PatrickforB]

30. The union must and will be preserved. We have activated the National Guard

to protect minorities five times out of the sixteen since the Whiskey Rebellion.

-Desegregation of Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas from 1957-58
-Desegregation of the University of Mississippi in Oxford, Mississippi in 1962
-Desegregation of the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, Alabama in 1963
-Integration of Alabama Public Schools in 1963
-March from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, in 1965

If you think about it, particularly in light of the recent ruling against the NRA in favor of the Sandy Hook parents, the right wing has constantly and systematically used race as a wedge issue against the American people. We saw the gun industry work to generate fear that the 'gummint' is gonna take yur gunz' after the tragedy of Columbine - that happened, note, on Hitler's birthday in 1999. Gun sales rose.

In fact, according to SafeHomes.org, 261 MILLION guns have been sold in the US since the year 2000, and between 2000 and 2021, gun sales grew at an annual rate of 4.5%. In 2020, the industry exceeded the 21.6 million sales mark, and in 2021 stayed high at 18.9 million.

Then, when Obama was elected, the gun industry used the ascension of an African American president to gin up even more fear among these people. According to the Pew Research Center, roughly three-quarters of gun owners (74%) believe owning a gun is 'essential for their personal freedom,' and 57% of people surveyed in Feb. 2013 said that gun control laws would “give too much power to the government over the people.” This number has increased.

As to the so-called 'constitutional militias,' according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, there were 68 groups in 1999, and membership in the mid-90s was estimated at between 20,000 and 60,000 people. The (SPLC) Intelligence Project identified 566 extreme antigovernment groups that were active in 2020, with aggregate membership estimated at 5.3 million. Think about that in light of my statement that we may have to activate Guard units (roll in the tanks). A 2021 national survey by pollster John Zogby found a plurality of Americans (46%) believed a future civil war was likely.

So there you have it. The right-wing is dangerous, terroristic, non-supportive of democracy, and many are ready to rebel against the US government. They are. We saw the tip of that iceberg on January 6, 2021.

So, yeah, we might well have to roll in the tanks.

[AZSkiffyGeek]

32. What minorities are you planning on protecting by killing gun owners?

I love it when urban "liberals" or "progressives" solution is to kill the people they disagree with.
Fucking monstrous. But hey, enjoy your revenge fantasies.

[PatrickforB]

35. You misread me.

I would much, much, much rather not have a civil war, or even have us have to activate the National Guard to ensure voting rights are preserved in states where there has been a well-documented effort to take them away. You have somehow conflated that to think I am willing to 'kill' people who disagree with me. What I am actually saying is that we may have to call out the Guard if necessary to check people who are willing to kill those with whom they disagree, including me.

In short, I'm not advocating 'killing people I disagree with' and take very strong exception to you even saying that. But I am saying that I DO LIKE DEMOCRACY, and I DO LIKE LIVING IN A REPUBLIC UNDER THE RULE OF LAW. When whole segments of people, whether rural or urban, no longer support democracy, and would instead change the government of this republic into an authoritarian one, then yes, I will stand up and resist that in as many ways, and on as many fronts as I legally can.

Yeah, I'm an urban 'librul.' I am. And I am kind of wondering what you are doing on here accusing people of that in pejorative terms. Ideologically, I'm a New Deal type of Democrat - what today might be called a Warren/Sanders progressive, though I don't like labels that much. I believe there is a role for government to take care of stuff the private sector cannot and will not do. This applies especially in those cases, such as prisons, police, firefighting, road and bridge, healthcare, where the profit motive is in direct conflict with the interests of the people being served or protected.

My conclusion, which I have expressed here many times, is that our unique brand of 'primacy of the shareholder' capitalism systematically transfers money from our treasury directly into the pockets of billionaires, and I have many times talked about policy, and how policy affects us, have criticized the priorities of the US Congress, and pointed out that individual taxpayers pay in around 86% of the federal government's tax revenue while corporations only pay in 6.8% - an economically unsustainable imbalance.

I respectfully invite you to reflect on what 'rule of law' actually means, because when you take it to its logical conclusion, in the end, we all generally obey that rule of law because of the implied threat that force will be used against us, if necessary, to uphold and enforce that rule.

Consider running a red light, or speeding >20 miles an hour over the limit.

What keeps me from doing it is the fear of getting an expensive ticket, sure, but ALSO that I care about the people around me, and feel some responsibility for their welfare. I don't, in other words, want to kill someone accidentally because I 'had' to get somewhere five minutes faster.

However, some people don't feel that concern or any responsibility at all for those around them. These people tend to be Q-style, don't-tread-on-me, right-wing libertarian Trumpists, but there are others who are merely sociopaths. The thing that keeps them from endangering the rest of us through profligate speeding, and helps ensure they will stop at red lights is in fact their fear that the force of law will be brought against them if they disobey.

And mark this well - I DID NOT SAY I WANT TO KILL THOSE WITH WHOM I DISAGREE. You should be ashamed for even saying that, and as to your implied description of 'people like me' as 'fucking monstrous,' I object. What I said, is that if these people who hate Democrats, and who hate this republic, and who hate liberal democracy act against this republic and its rule of law, we may have to activate the Guard to uphold the rule of law.

So...DON'T put words in my mouth, and DON'T insult me by calling me monstrous. If you want to engage in respectful debate, fine, but to dismiss an opposing opinion as you just did is not OK.

[drift_poet]

11. Brainwashing and Toxic Masculinity

The relentless gaslighting has worked…the people with perhaps the most to gain from progressive *policies* are hostile to progressives because caring isn’t what “tough guys” do. Caring for the less fortunate…caring for the neighborhood…caring about the planet; that’s all sublimated by fear of otherness. That manifests as suspicion, prejudice, and eventually, hate. How many narrow-minded people have you known to completely abandon the edicts of their “tribe” and their own emotional habits to such a degree that anything their “enemy” says could be truly considered? that is not the way of the conservative or evangelical mind.
the demonization of progressives and their genuine concerns for all members of society has poisoned the well irredeemably. not to paint rural life with too broad a brush but living in isolation from demographics that are just as legitimately american is a recipe for tribalism and hyperbolic resistance to the reality of change.
there is a psychological disease in much of rural america. it feeds on fear, which is fed relentlessly by RW media and politicians, cynically, for the sake of having power. republicans have done nothing to understand or address the very real challenges rural americans face. so why are so many of these folks anti-liberal? that’s easy. being anti-liberal is core to their sense of identity. this is a cultural phenomenon, not a policy one. this isn’t about disagreements over philosophies of governance. this is the glum result of decades of RW figures mocking, misrepresenting, and vilifying their political opponents using the same tactics bullies use to recruit fellow bullies. the democrats didn’t break politics in rural america. that was achieved by appealing to laziness and ego, turning complex issues into slogans to be wielded to own the libs.
and why is there not a reciprocal gnashing of teeth about how republicans have lost urban areas?
i think it’s important to understand the origins of the rise of the RW in rural america. and as long as those forces remain effective, driving a truck around some red counties isn’t gonna mean squat.
i come from rural stock and love the old ways, which used to mean listening to everyone and deciding what the best ideas were. now we’re reduced to a pro wrestling villain and everyone feels better about themselves when their guy “beats” him.
when i was a young man Dems won Iowa and Ohio and Pennsylvania and North Carolina regularly. It’s one time i miss the “good old days”.

[brer cat]

19. Good post.

There is also the great urban vs rural divide that is very hard to bridge. As long as I can remember, my rural relatives have distrusted and feared the influence of urban dwellers as though we were aliens out to corrupt their young people and forced unwelcome change. Otoh, those of us raised in cities looked down on our rural kin as unsophisticated.

Welcome to DU.

[Renaissance Man]

34. The divide is not only built on mistrust.

The divide is not only built on mistrust. The divide is also built on where resources are provided, as well. Most job creation is focused on cities. The "mom and pop" nature of small town main street was built on ensuring that rural areas received their share of the American pie, so that those areas could flourish, as well. Today, not so much.

[riversedge]

20. We lost the notion of the 'common good' decades ago. Now even caring for others seems so

alien for so many.

love your post

[chia]

25. Well said.

[eShirl]

18. You can thank decades of AM hate radio

and decades of hate TV

[Botany]

26. Yup!

n/t

[appalachiablue]

29. +1

[DBoon]

36. How do we counter this?

Is there an organization that supports rural public radio and TV for example?

Is anyone pushing against concentration of media ownership?

[czarjak]

27. It's not just The Cornpone Zone. Dems are The Others Party.

[OneCrazyDiamond]

28. The GQP is the dying party.

I think we will do a lot better than the media is putting on for this cycle. Sometimes I think they miss TFG.

[Renaissance Man]

31. Clueless

The people who have posted in this thread are clueless, and the responses to this article reflects that.

I'm from rural America, and I can personally attest that rural hostility to Democrats isn't something born completely from hate radio. Two big economic policies and ideologies (one ushered in and the other supported by Democrats - free trade - NAFTA - Bill Clinton and increased support for globalization) have decimated rural America. Add in a pandemic and a housing crisis (2008), and people who once had the ability to live simple, low expense lives were upended, with jobs fleeing from their communities.

In my small rural community, Fruit of the Loom operated two factories that employed a significant number of people. It paid a very good starting wage (relative to cost of living) where people could work a 40 hour work week and still be able to purchase a home and live the American dream. NAFTA immediately transferred those jobs to Mexico, and I literally saw people who were in their 50's scramble to find employment that paid less just to try to make ends meet.

That story, I'm sure, was repeated across the country. Democrats now are viewed as the party of urban and major metro areas (i.e. don't come to the party if you don't possess, at minimum, a bachelor's degree). Yes, Republican labor and tax policies have been complete garbage for decades, but our policies should be beyond reproach, and they haven't. Our policies should speak to rural America, but in practice, they haven't. Until we come to grips with this, we'll continue to lose rural America. It was why the "forgotten people" spiel was so effective in 2020.

[AZSkiffyGeek]

33. Don't worry, the government's gonna be rolling tanks down main street

To convince you otherwise. Because of civil rights or some nonsense.

[yankee87]

37. I lived it

Renaissance Man, even though I started my life in the Bronx, I worked in the factories of GM. I had to move 4 times to get my pension, which was cut in half, not a union worker, an engineer. I lived in a town called Janesville, WI, which was absolutely devastated when GM shut the plant. Same thing happened here in Lordstown, OH. Now Ford announced they are shutting their plant here outside Cleveland. I would say at least half of the UAW workers I know vote solid red now.
In my 7 years since leaving GM, I had to go to 4 different jobs because of auto manufacturing cut backs. It SUCKS.
We can poo poo all we want but, the states all have 2 senators and we must do something to win back the rural voters.

[Casady1]

40. Blaming globalization on the dem's is inaccurate.

This is the product of conservative philosophy. This article explains Reagan's influence for the last 40 years. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/28/opinion/biden-president-progressive.html

All one has to understand that the same way corporations moved out of rural America is the same way moved south to escape unions. They will always go to the place where labor is cheapest.

I am as blue collar growing up as anyone as my Dad was a factory union worker. All four kids have a bachelors degree. Our parents made us finish college. . Globalization is simply what was taught in masters programs in business school. Unfortunately, rural people didn't understand that it was only a matter of time that those factories were going overseas.

The democrats have been the party of urban America since 1965 and the southern strategy has exploited that for 50 years. This is tribal and not policy.

[LiberalFighter]

39. There is nothing toxic about the Democratic Party. It is the insurrectionists and other crazies.

[progressoid]

41. k/r

[lees1975]

42. Rush Limbaugh was largely responsible for helping the GOP win over rural voters

That and the failure of Democrats to keep their narrative on point and be the party of the working class. The GOP will never be that, but they put their message on a social agenda and keep pointing out how those ungodly liberals are taking their country away from them.

AM radio in the middle of the day kept a lot of small town stations on the air and brought them advertisers. It's a cheap but effective means of communication. We need someone who can deliver OUR message and hold those listeners, because not everyone who lives in rural America is a right wing, gun totin' Bible thumpin' idiot.

[maxrandb]

48. Bullshit!

It was the election of Barack Obama that motivates these 'Murikan shitholes.

It's fucking racism, pure and fucking simple.

If rural 'Murika was ever asked to spend a day in urban America's shoes (something they are NEVER asked to do), they would understand and see that urban people have the same dreams, aspirations, desires and problems that rural America has.

They don't want to hear the stories of urban America, because they've NEVER been asked to hear them .

Really, does anyone but our fucking worthless media think that rural America has more in common with elite fucksticks like Donnie Dipshit, Ted Cruz, Mitch McConnell, Mitt Romney and Susan Collins than they do with Barack Obama? Fuck no. The only thing they share with them is a fucking skin color.

Fucking rural Americans families have much more in common with a low to middle class family in Detroit than they do with gilded pompadours in a fucking Moron-Lago country club.

The ONLY fucking thing they share in common with Donnie Dipshit is ignorance and skintone.

Fuck this entire "rural Merika, salt of the earth Bullshit!

[NullTuples]

43. Can we talk yet about the nearly determinate role churches have played in this?

[BeckyDem]

45. It is healthy to self-examine, and sometimes, it is critical.

Especially now when we see a neo-fascist party taking hold with Republicans. We must win a supermajority in order to hold them back from more insane policies and advance our policies that actually help Americans.


K&R