Generations of families have voted for Republicans. The poor either vote Republican or don't vote. There are a few African American communities within the area, but I wouldn't know how they vote (I'm not assuming they are a monolith). Most of the wealthy people around the lake vote Republican, although they are aging. God and church rule, with lots of Southern Baptists (we've heard comments that our ecumenical church "doesn't preach the bible"
. Abortion is "sin," as is homosexuality to these people. They know little to no facts, because they always vote Republican and that's what they know. Big hunters - guns are in many homes.
Fox "News" is everywhere. No progressive channels, unless you have cable or satellite, and absolutely no progressive radio or literature. I'm planning to petition our library to stock authors with progressive ideas - I'm sure I'll get push back (one librarian raised her eyes and said, "Oh, my!" when I checked out "Memoirs of a Geisha" - I kid you not.)
There is always a great ground game in this area. We are heavily gerrymandered (our district is a joke). This past election, over 75% of the vote went to Trump/Republicans with about 24% going to Clinton/Democrats.
I am not smart enough to know how to help this. Unfortunately, I cannot make calls or do door-to-door visits, because I'm terribly intimidated by the thought and afraid to (just my personality, I don't fear for my safety). I tried, but my anxiety was too great, so the only way I know how to help is writing letters to the editor and donating money. I'm almost wondering how much money it costs to put up a billboard to list some hard monetary facts, and I might try to see if the local Democratic party wants to raise money in 2018.
I think it would help if there are any similar areas around the country that have had success and a blueprint to follow for changing from red to blue.
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