https://theconversation.com/how-democrats-are-making-a-mistake-in-rural-america-by-not-showing-up-231355
Democrats have been losing rural voters across the US since the 1960s, and that collapse has fueled Donald Trump’s ‘Make America Great Again’ movement.
Have I not seen both Harris and Walz in rural areas almost every day lately going into small shops and union factories... putting tons of money and energy into swing states and states not normally considered in play for the Democrats? I don't remember seeing either of them spending much energy going to Manhattan, Los Angeles, San Diego, etc. that I remember. I've heard them both talk about rural areas mostly and being incredibly important and listen to their concerns.
The US is huge, they are two people, it's impossible for them to visit every small town.
Yes this article is mostly BS. You can probably cherrypick very small towns with no local Democratic organizers where the Harris campaign has no ground game. However, that’s very clearly not the norm. Also, worth pointing out that driving higher turnout in cities like Philadelphia should remain the top priority over anything you do in rural counties. If Dems lose Pa it is most likely because of low turnout in the cities.
I live in a metropolitan suburb. There were not even any democrats on the primary ballot for most of the positions in this election.
It has less to do with being "rural" and more to do with the general low education and mobility of "rural" areas.
It is an empirical fact that there is a strong correlation between progressive thought and education/exposure to the world. Since a lot of it boils down to just knowing there are other ways to live.
Whereas "rural" areas tend to see people who never move more than a hundred miles away from where they were born and are generally undereducated. And that makes them very vulnerable to "The problem isn't you. The problem is all those brown people and women in the big city who are stealing your jobs".
And the rest boils down to money and just... population density. Given infinite money, the Democrats would love to campaign everywhere. But the reality is that money is limited and a rally in even a small town will generally impact a much higher percentage than organizing a county fair to get the ten people in a hundred mile radius to show up (exaggerating but... not that much).
And... I can speak from experience (from helping out with state Democrats) that it is still not that easy. Because you can do a multi-year effort to bring in some good candidates to even a small town. Unless your candidate was born and raised in those rural areas, they will almost immediately be rejected. And if they left for college and came back for some reason? They are likely to be rejected as well. Which is why, a lot of times, there won't even BE a blue candidate because there is no point.
That might generally be true but where I live near Raleigh,NC, which is one of the most educated places in America likely due to so many colleges and universities right here, we move away from the more urban areas to the generally more rural areas because it’s way cheaper and the commute isn’t terrible. It wouldn’t hurt to at least try in some of the rural areas around Raleigh like Garner, Clayton, Holly Springs, hell even Fuquay Varina (yes that’s a really town unfortunately… you can probably guess some nicknames for it. This state could be very purple pretty quickly.
Yes. Aren't exceptions great?
I am not familiar enough with the Raleigh area to know if those are actually rural areas or if they are just suburbs (you should listen to how New Yorkers describe Jersey...).
But a lot of that is the same logic as "Oh, all those California liberals are moving to Texas because it is cheap so that will be a blue state within the year". And as anyone who has experience with Austin beyond "Keep Austin Weird" marketing can tell you: A Texas Democrat is still a VERY moderate-conservative person. Well, more specifically, a Texas Democrat with any mobility (which is why it is still so important for republicans to gerrymander the hell out of those cities). And people tend to not move toward hellscapes where they strongly disagree with all local politics.
That said, there are ongoing efforts. But it again boils down toward where it is worth spending money. Especially when turning a county blue mostly means a DINO.
I should take some pics of where I live. Yeah it’s pretty rural. Outside of wake county it becomes like a different state. I mean it’s shocking how much difference 30 miles can make. I’m very surprised there isn’t more political unrest here given the mixing of very different ideologies in a small area.
But you’re absolutely right, it’s always about spending your campaign dollars wisely. And no amount of Trump propaganda is ever going to change my mind. So let the Rs waste money on me.
The problem in NC might be atypical, though. State office pays $13,951 per year, and I'm not sure if that's comparable to other states but it damn sure isn't enough to entice anyone who isn't already independently wealthy (and who can take 6 months off per year and not lose their job).
To be sure, the NC Democratic Party is utter dogshit at recruiting new talent, but they're also fighting a seriously uphill battle in trying to find people who are willing to make literally below poverty level just to serve.
Yeah. Not familiar with the NC mess. But getting good candidates to go to places like Florida just aren't going to happen. Because fixing the hellscape is important but... nobody wants to live in the hellscape unless they have no choice.
Its an open secret so I don't mind sharing it but when a county does something like "We need to attract more OBGYNs to the local hospital" and the like? Part of that is very much fulfilling a need of the community. The other part is getting strong candidates (either the doctor or their partner) with the intent of running them in a year or two for a local office. And because of the general high degree of education required, it is a good way for Democrats to bus in some people as it were.
It wouldn't be an issue (or as much of one anyhow) if we had a house that wasn't so limited in size (though one can extrapolate further and blame the electoral college, I doubt we could get an amendment to fix that, while a bill to fix the house, in turn resolving a fair amount of issue with the college, is far more attainable), but they won't pursue fixing that either.
September 6
"Kamala Harris is bringing on a new campaign hire as part of her team’s push to clinch must-win states this fall by keeping former President Donald Trump from running up the score in rural counties,” Politico reports.
“Harris is tapping Matt Hildreth of the progressive Rural Organizing group as her rural engagement director… Democrats have been hemorrhaging support in rural America for years, but making even a small dent in Trump’s steep rural margins could determine the outcome in battleground states that may be decided by razor-thin margins.”
September 6
"Kamala Harris is bringing on a new campaign hire as part of her team’s push to clinch must-win states this fall by keeping former President Donald Trump from running up the score in rural counties,” Politico reports.
“Harris is tapping Matt Hildreth of the progressive Rural Organizing group as her rural engagement director… Democrats have been hemorrhaging support in rural America for years, but making even a small dent in Trump’s steep rural margins could determine the outcome in battleground states that may be decided by razor-thin margins.”
I live in rural NC and I have gotten flyer after flyer for Trump. I have never not once registered republican. It’s like they have no idea that rural Americans might actually support their platform and ideals.
I do get some satisfaction that it cost Trump or sone superPAC some money to send his shit to me though.
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