Today, the New York Times put forward an editorial that hits to the heart of the problem which faces Democratic party members.
www.nytimes.com/...
They are conservative, believe in hard work, family, the military and cops, and they know that abortion and socialism are evil, that Jesus Christ is our savior, and that Donald J. Trump will be good for America.
They are part of a growing movement in rural America that immerses many young people in a culture — not just conservative news outlets but also home and church environments — that emphasizes contemporary conservative values. It views liberals as loathsome, misinformed and weak, even dangerous.
“The difference between Republicans and Democrats is that Republicans believe people are fundamentally bad, while Democrats see people as fundamentally good,” said Mr. Watts, who was in the area to campaign for Senator Rand Paul. “We are born bad,” he said and added that children did not need to be taught to behave badly — they are born knowing how to do that.
“We teach them how to be good,” he said. “We become good by being reborn — born again.”
Because of this, I wanted to go back and revisit something I had written, and cover some of the assumptions writers make about rural communities as well as the impact of a unified Republican government.
When I wrote my original thoughts on rural America, I pointed out that I grew up, spent my life, and still work to maintain roots in rural communities. Markos, in a front page diary today, discusses the fact that it was “easy” to vote Republican, due to their being no consequences, but now, he contends, there will be consequences.
This is only a small part of the story. On the other hand, Daily Kos writers and others who still want to revisit the primaries, argue that it is either “all the same” or that a populist approach would have prevailed with these voters because of economic, bread and butter issues.
It is easy to disdain rural communities, or to put tons of electoral intelligence in them and assume rural communities would have voted X way if ONLY.. or that now they will feel the consequences, and so…
But both narratives are by and large falsehoods. The bitter truth is that many within rural communities, and even those who have relocated to more metropolitan areas simply have a very strong ideological belief, developed through years, in large part because Democratic messaging has gone decades locked out of their marketplace of ideas.
Spending time in rural Missouri, Kansas and more other states, I see it first hand, frequently. Local restaurants that pump in Rush Limbaugh for lunch. Fox News locked on every hotel main lobby TV.
Rural roads, as the author notes, fall into disrepair or are mocked, even by Republicans:
And while roads fall into disrepair or are converted to gravel, hospitals are lost, the rural communities have already felt what they feel is the “worst” that can happen. ACA or no ACA? They’ve lost hospitals and doctors. Kansas groups moved to allow chiropractors to handle concussions to keep high school football going because the doctors had fled.
Instead, what has happened in rural communities is a divide of values that won’t have consequences. They have already realized the consequences and assessed the blame. The “city folk” who get lots of services while their communities die are to blame, and they sit and hope for things to change. If it doesn’t change under Trump, well, again, it won’t be the Republicans fault. Things will continue to get worse and, that, frankly, is just the burden they have decided to carry.
Everyone looks for Democratic party members to develop either a rural agenda. They propose either slightly more conservative approaches or strongly more populist approaches in hopes of winning over voters who they think will come home and convert.
I have heard from Democratic candidates, DNC members, and reporters that “the youth even in these rural communities” will be strongly with us. And, I point to communities where the youth follow their parents about 80% of the time and remain strong, rock-ribbed Republicans.
What has happened, though, is that these communities do have Democratic members in them. What we have failed to do is play the game of margins, to promote the idea to Democratic members that no matter where they are, no matter the turnout in their county, precinct or district, we need their vote.
Every day, I receive email, thoughts, concerns from those who want to express to me their concepts for how to reach voters in rural communities. I advocated post election that maybe people should try to visit first. I didn’t say this to be coy or threatening. I said it because I believe there is a real misunderstanding of the targets, goals, and realities.
Markos assessment that right-wing voters will see this as punishment simply won’t happen. They will blame Democratic members for having already ruined the system or for hobbling any “replacement” even if there isn’t one. Their hospitals and schools are gone or leaving, and they will blame others. It is easy. It is second hand. And the radio and TV will remind them every few minutes it is the right thing to do.
Turning out Democratic votes everywhere is important. It is the key to our future. Expecting Republicans to see the light or change, no matter whether you are selling them populism or conservadems are unlikely, no matter whether or not it fits any narrative.
If we want an honest dialog about how to grow our party and win elections, we have to stop beating ourselves up chasing imaginary targets and set realistic goals of how we grow, how we give voice to a message, and how we close the margins in areas we under perform, and how we run up vote totals were Democratic members do well.
And that will take a much more thoughtful analysis than we receive when we want to re-litigate the primaries or when we decide that Trump as punishment will influence anyone, or that they will even feel the real results.
We can get there. We can begin to change the numbers. There is no silver bullet. There will be no easy answer.
For now, I think we should all move past calls of what could have been done, and songs of praise for perceived retribution to others.
Both feel good. Neither, however, helps us bring out the votes we need. Not four years from now, not even 2 years from now. But the votes we need starting in months from now around the country in County, City, and State races.