If The Dems Made A Concerted Effort To Appeal To Rural Voters What Would You Recommend They Do?....

[Xithras]

185. Ouch.

I once had something similar happen when I was trying to remove a couple of hazardous oak trees on my old property line. I wanted to take them down so nobody would get hurt, but the property line bordered a river which made things "complicated". I ended up so frustrated that I just abandoned the idea. The tree came down on its own one night, and it didn't even have the decency to ask the ACoE for permission first!

Most of our environmental and regulatory laws exist for good reason, but rural residents tend to be exposed to them a LOT more often than urban residents, and navigating those laws and bureaucracies can be a huge problem for a lot of farmers and rural homeowners. That breeds dislike and resentment, which feeds into the Republican anti-government meme.

Not only that, but it makes rural residents STRONGLY question the governments ability to run anything efficiently. Urban residents may not connect the issues, but for a lot of rural residents the thinking goes something like this: "If I can't even work with the government to cut down a dangerous tree, or rebuild a simple farm bridge, or replace a water pump, how am I supposed to trust them to handle my health care or my retirement?"

When a persons contacts with the government are overwhelmingly negative, how do you convince them that the government is there to help them? We need to change the perception of government, by changing the tone of those interactions, if we want to get anywhere and push back the Republican grip on rural voters.