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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsFormer senators launching effort to help Dems win rural votes
https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/440609-former-senators-launching-effort-to-help-dems-win-rural-votesHeitkamp and Donnelly, who both lost their reelection bids in red states last year, will introduce One Country Thursday in an effort to win back voters who have reliably voted Republican for years.
One Country will reopen the dialogue with rural America, reengaging rural voters with trust and respect. By taking these conversations and combining them with data, research, and polling, One Country will reverse the trends that are causing rural voters to reject Democratic leadership, the group said in a statement.
While political pundits and pollsters perceive rural America as firmly in Republican hands, One Countrys mission is to change that perception and show the path forward.
MORE...
https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/440609-former-senators-launching-effort-to-help-dems-win-rural-votes
ProudMNDemocrat
(16,485 posts)Democrats need to bring back the rural communities that are part of the fabric of America. To hear them out, to listen to their frustrations of the current administration.
CaptYossarian
(6,448 posts)Republicans used to support the republic, hence the name. Now they're Party First--over country--even resorting to treason.
The Greek word "demos" means "people", which is why our party's main objective is to help the sick, poor, elderly, women, and minorities--all the people Trump attacks.
When the GOP was formed, it was the more liberal party. It attracted Lincoln and white abolitionists. It's why Thomas Nast's symbol of the Democratic party was the jackass, a stupid mammal known for it's braying. Who does that sound like?
All the roles have been reversed, which is why we need a new animal symbol. Maybe a smart one like a dolphin?
awesomerwb1
(4,256 posts)A lot of more of this thinking outside the box from Dems please.
spanone
(135,636 posts)Wounded Bear
(58,440 posts)But we need to break down the Fox Wall around these voters. We won't break the oligarchs hold on the Senate without converting some of these people.
CaptYossarian
(6,448 posts)From what I've read, they're more radical and sneak into small, mainstream stations.
ehrnst
(32,640 posts)beachbum bob
(10,437 posts)campaign trail in every state we have typically left GOP run free and wild in. GOP can not defend everywhere as 2018 proved/ Take the fight to their backyards in Tn, Kentucky, Texas, georgia, Al, Ms, Kansas, Missouri, etc
rurallib
(62,346 posts)beachbum bob
(10,437 posts)need Iowa democrats to step and be counted now
Funtatlaguy
(10,856 posts)sheshe2
(83,355 posts)Go Democrats!
dlk
(11,438 posts)I wish every success for One Country. To succeed, it will be important to remember their target voters consistently vote their values, even when it hurts them, economically, physically and socially. Republicans have successfully used racism and sexism to sucker these voters for many years. They have been willing to sell out their health care, their education, their financial security to vote for their values. To succeed in winning over these voters, One Country will need to find ways to incorporate a Democratic values message that meshes with their values that are patriarchal and tend toward authoritarianism Although no small challenge, it is possible.
lagomorph777
(30,613 posts)How does a party with a central message of justice, peace, and equality speak with voters driven by cruelty, hatred, and prejudice? Appealing to their economic self-interest doesn't seem to be enough to overcome their reptilian emotional wiring.
dlk
(11,438 posts)Democrats must use a multi-faceted approach: registering voters, ramping up efforts to get out the vote, and reaching out to Trump voters. Unfortunately, there are those voters to whom being right is everything and always more important than their wealth, health and education. The reality is for some voters, they will cut off their nose to spite their face - every time. We can do our best to craft a Democratic message that might appeal to them. However, theres no guarantee they will ever vote for a Democrat. I live in a very red state and sometimes Im shocked at the very deep level of hatred toward democrats coming from seemingly decent people. The Republican propaganda has taken hold and continues to work. There is much work to do.
mcar
(42,210 posts)mountain grammy
(26,571 posts)ancianita
(35,816 posts)ancianita
(35,816 posts)bullwinkle428
(20,627 posts)a kennedy
(29,467 posts)blue-wave
(4,317 posts)I read awhile back that Howard Dean was again involved in outreach for the DNC. Anyone know if he is driving this? It hints of his 50 state strategy.
JaneQPublic
(7,113 posts)I've heard Tom Perez say several times he embraces Dean's old 50-State Strategy. But here's what Dr. Dean is working on now for the DNC:
This is game-changing for how we do business for years to come across the Democratic Party ecosystem, Perez told The Associated Press.
Dean called it a big breakthrough that will match what Republicans have established. Id sort of given up that we could get it done, Dean said.
The arrangement would allow the national party, state parties and independent political action groups on the left to share voter data in real time during campaigns. That means, for example, that a field worker for a congressional campaign in Iowa and another for an independent political action committee knocking on doors in Florida could update a master voter file essentially as they work. When a presidential campaign spends big money on consumer data to update voter profiles, the new information would go into the central file as well. And all participating organizations would have access to the latest information.
Parties, campaigns and PACs use that kind of voter data to decide which voters to call and who to visit in person or to determine which voters receive targeted digital ads on platforms such as Facebook and YouTube, among other things.
Currently, political action groups on the left must gather, update and use data independently from the party.
MORE...
https://www.apnews.com/9a47a0def9234e338bc72053e86f221f
mopinko
(69,808 posts)i saw so much stupid duplication of efforts and lack of coordination between campaigns large and small that managed to pull off a blue wave anyway. how much bigger the next one will be w tools like this?
i mean, shit, county board candidates could barely schedule door knocking w the congressional candidate, let alone lit swaps.
almost enough to make me send the dnc some money.
JaneQPublic
(7,113 posts)I might chip in a few coins myself.
FakeNoose
(32,356 posts)The liberal voices have been drowned out of the "red" states for way too long. Maybe those Midwestern states aren't so red after all.
We just have to stop believing the media when they tell us these states are "deep red" when it's more like 50/50 or 49/51. Democrats need to reach out and show those forgotten liberals they aren't alone.
LiberalFighter
(50,504 posts)I'm sorry, it just doesn't make sense.
They both lost. If I was going to pick who would be better at helping though, I would throw it at Heitkamp. But still!
Donnelly pissed off a lot of Democrats in Indiana when he came out with an ad criticizing Democrats. Thinking that he could still keep loyal Democrats while attacking them was a big mistake.
If Donnelly is part of the package he will do something stupid again.
On another note. I lived here in Indiana since Evan Bayh got elected Secretary of State. Evan is not the same high level Democrat as his daddy Birch Bayh. After several elections that he won and shortly after he decided not to run for re-election to the Senate I came to a realization. The only reason Evan won his elections was because of his daddy. Birch Bayh had strong name recognition along with a stellar reputation. His seasoned supporters knew of Birch and it was why they voted for Evan. But after 25 years in politics many of those supporters had died off. And the younger voters either didn't know Birch or they weren't going to accept Evan just because of his daddy.
Evan also doesn't have any personality. He also did not have the passion to serve. He is boring.
Amishman
(5,541 posts)Rural voters have a perception of government as intrusive and useless.
Police are unappreciated, with response times up to.half an hour, they don't feel protected.
Environmental regulations and fuel taxes are seen as an imposition.
Very few public sector jobs exist, those that do are locally based/funded.
Mass transit doesn't exist.
The short of it is they see the government as primarily taking their money away and telling them what they can't do.
JaneQPublic
(7,113 posts)Thanks, Amishman.
Perhaps Dems need to do a better job addressing rural issues, as well as highlighting the services already provided that rural folks may not know about or appreciate.
I may be a bit biased on that score, since my late father was federal civil servant who worked helping farmers and other rural landowners. He was an engineer with USDA's Soil Conservation Service (the hero agency at the end of Ken Burn's film "The Dust Bowl," now called the Natural Resources Conservation Service.)
He would survey croplands that were losing valuable topsoil to erosion and draw up plans to keep people's farms from washing downstream.
When he would pull down a road in a car with U.S. Government seals on the side, the farmers were glad to see him and get help from the "Feds."