How to win the rural voters?

[kentuck]

Talk about beans and cornbread.

Talk about Ford pick-ups and country music.

Talk about hunting squirrels back in the mountains early in the morning.

Talk about 4-wheeling to check on their pot gardens. (They love their pot. Promise to get it legalized for them)

Talk about biscuits and gravy.

Don't say anything good about the "guv-ment"

It's a simple strategy.

[redstateblues]

1. Don't carry Defund The Police signs in protests

[kentuck]

2. :-) Definitely not!

Don't bad-mouth the blue line.

[Ferrets are Cool]

5. How are we going to get the ProudBoi's to stop doing that?

[kentuck]

9. ProudBoi's? Who's dat?

[Turin_C3PO]

36. I don't think we can control that.

I bet a large number of those protesters holding the "Defund the Police" signs aren't actually Democrats. So they don't really have a motivation to tweak their message. I'm not saying they aren't progressives, and I do feel sympathy towards them, but I predict the movement will keep going, regardless of the Democrats' official opinion on the matter. We're going to have to work around it and try not to let Rethugs label us with false accusations.

[uponit7771]

38. Or Fuck The Police cause we might want to fuck the police right? No, anyone who thinks that slogan .

... was 100% true wasn't voting democrat anyway

[Ferrets are Cool]

3. You forgot "Lie about your opponent" and "I love Guns and God"

[kentuck]

6. I was trying to keep it simple.

You don't want to get too deep into guns and religion. Change the subject to biscuits and gravy.

[Ferrets are Cool]

8. Then you have to add in grits and Conecuh sausage

Otherwise, they think you are a fake "something".

[kentuck]

11. Yeah, we could go "whole hog".

But it doesn't take that much to persuade them.

[Ferrets are Cool]

15. Yes, they seem to be easily led by the nose

speaking as a "former" country boy who grew up slopping the hogs and tossing 100lb hay bales up into the barn loft.

[lagomorph777]

24. Agreed - keep it to the bottom line things gov't can HELP them with.

They are being screwed just like the rest of us - they just don't see the mechanics of it. Lay that bare, and show them how we intend to change it.

[underpants]

4. This seems to work for NEW country music

[luv2fly]

7. Have to do more than just talk about them I think

Just talking about those things is insincere, and easily read through. Not to mention a bit stereotypical, but hey, stereotypes exist for a reason.

Too many are single issue voters, and we have to help them understand the bigger picture. Pickup trucks, country music, etc are all fine ways to get there, but it has to be sincere, by people they see as themselves. I think...

[Ferrets are Cool]

10. I think he was being a bit satirical

[kentuck]

14. Like Trump?

I wouldn't over-estimate their ability to recognize sincerity.

[gratuitous]

12. And crap all over the Americans who voted for you

Don't forget that! Blacks, Muslims, Latinx, Women? We gotta get the votes of rural people who hate your guts. You understand why we're putting them in the front seat and that you need to wait just a little while longer, don't you?

[lagomorph777]

26. We don't have to address a message to coddle MAGATs over real constituents.

We have to craft a message that makes sense to everybody who's getting screwed by the oligarchy. There is so much we can do to help working class people, regardless of color. And hey, attack the elites who have rigged the system. Everybody knows it's true. Show them how we'll stop the billionaires from ripping them off.

No need to pamper their ugly side. Just make it plain that this is business. Good business for them.

[StarfishSaver]

31. I don't want them in my party

Especially since if they are in the tent, they're going to expect something and what they want will have nothing to do with economics or their concern about the "oligarchy." Their driving force is race and a belief that Republicans will maintain their false sense of white superiority.

We've proven time and again that if Democrats broaden their base of black and brown voters, we don't need to chase around after racist white voters to win.

They can stay where they are. We don't need them and I don't want them anywhere near me.

[Turin_C3PO]

37. I basically agree 100% with you

but how are we ever going to consistently keep the Senate and House if we don't get at least some rural whites on our side? It's a conundrum because I believe, like you, that wooing rural whites would have an adverse effect on our commitment to our true base, which is minorities. I'm not sure what we could do to convince rural whites people to join our coalition. I wish they would open their minds and let go of their ridiculous bigoted worldview.

[StarfishSaver]

40. We've proven time and again that don't need them

We shore up our base and also focus more on state races that determine state legislatures who draw the district lines - get more Democrats into those positions and the gerrymandering will be reduced, thereby making it much easier to elect and maintain a more representative House.

The problem with chasing after rural voters is that we have to give up too much to get them. I'm not there for that. If even half the energy that goes into begging these white people to vote Democratic were invested in outreach to and protecting the vote of minority voters, we'd be in much better shape and wouldn't have to sell our souls to people who aren't going to vote Democratic anyway.

As I said, the only way to convince rural whites to join our coalition is to convince them that the coalition will be about THEM and that the black and brown people in it will take a back seat.

[Turin_C3PO]

42. Great points.

It would really help if we could get rid of gerrymandering. It's unfortunate that the Senate, by nature, is biased toward small states but maybe, as you say, if we could increase turnout among our actual base we could win a few of those states. Especially in the South where there's a large African-American population.

[Binkie The Clown]

13. Don't you dare diss biscuits and gravy! nt

[kentuck]

16. I love biscuits and gravy!

I like cornbread and pinto beans, also.

[mackdaddy]

17. A big lift until you can negate that little Sat Dish where all the lies are poured in...

Even the crappiest single wide has one. Not sure what you do about that.

[kentuck]

21. We need to stop criticizing FOX News and instead....

...mock them, ridicule them, laugh at them. Don't try to argue that they are wrong. It's better to argue that they are funny.

[lagomorph777]

27. BUY them.

Turn the BS around.

[mackdaddy]

35. Fox news is still a major propaganda source, but other even further out sources are up and comers.

I do not know of a Trump supporter who does not primarily watch fox, but from the few RW facebook "friends" still left, there are several extreme sites in the mold of infosmores, dimbaart, and nuzemin that they are watching and all just love tump and the Q lies and BS.

Utube keeps suggesting a bunch of "reports" from nuzemin. They are fairly well produced, look like a news report, and are totally detached from reality.

Steve Bannon and some Chinese billionaire have some propaganda video site they created and they are pushing the Hunter stolen/faked data big time. I think all my relatives in West Virginia have fallen for that crap.

I guess I don't see how you can de-program someone from the cult while they are still immersed in the cult. Maybe the first step is to recognize what the lies are and what their source is. There may be a small window to get through to them when one of the rw extremist lies hits them over the head as false. Like when someone they know actually gets Covid, or maybe when Trump actually leaves the Wh without arresting all of the Qanon evil doers.

[Turin_C3PO]

18. Even that doesn't work

if the person doing such things is a Dem. My Dem House representative aired commercials showing how rural and country she is, driving pickups, country music in ads, and turkey hunting. Nonetheless we lost her seat to the Trump sucker Yvette Herrell.

[pwb]

19. Admit that democrats own lots of guns?

I do?

[ChicagoRonin]

20. Invest in those communities!

Seriously. Lay the groundwork for some genuine economic diversity and opportunities.
It'll be hard obviously. There will be cultural resistance. Lack of qualified personnel due to years of educational disparities will pose a problem. And it will take strong regulatory measures to bust the stranglehold of Big Ag, coal and other forces. But if the Democrats take an extremely long-term view of things, they could truly shake things up.

People with full bellies, comfortable bank accounts and a solid roof over their head are not as easily swayed by demagoguery.

[33taw]

22. I am from a rural county in WI.

First, quit acting like you are superior. Personally, I hate country music. I don’t eat biscuits and gravy, and having worked in government for many years, I have yet to say guv-ment. Maybe talk about our real issues - broadband availability, the impact of tariffs on certain products, rural health care (it is horrible), and address gun control. Gun control is their biggest fear - be honest about what our goals are or are not. But, please stop sounding or being self-righteous.

[beachbumbob]

23. Lack of understanding rural people and what matters is why democrats do not

win this voting group. Understanding what drives their fear is where you start. What is rural America fears? Are these fears universal between geographic areas of rural America? Next area is what issues clearly have NO meaning to them.

[Turin_C3PO]

43. Here's the problem.

Many, many rural white people don't care at all about what Democrats can do for them. They vote based on racism, abortion, guns, and gays. I know this because I live among them. Until they drop their bigoted worldview Democrats can't and won't win their vote. And that is fine because there's no way we should pander to that bullshit. We can win areas if we focus on turnout among young people and minorities, especially African-Americans which could help us be more successful in the South.

[Chainfire]

25. I am a rural voter in North Florida

I interact with Trump voters every day. Anti-liberalism is a way of life to the folks, it is a religion and I don't have a clue how to go about changing their minds. Not all of the rural Trumpers are ignorant hicks, some are well educated professionals and those are the ones that keep me scratching my head.

My best friend from school is a retired bank president and he and his wife are foaming at the mouth Trumpsters. We grew up in the same neighborhood, we had the same teachers and preachers, we were in Scouts together, we got our hair cut at the same barbershop. I think that the difference in us is simply racism. We grew up in a segregated world, that did not even question the notion that white people were superior to all people of color, and he was not comfortable with leaving it behind. These folks see Democrats as the ones who changed their lily white world. How do you talk someone out of that after 70 years, and how do you undo the damage that he passed on to his children? Damned if I know.

I really believe that things will improve when us Baby Boomers die off, but that doesn't help for the next 20 years or so.

[StarfishSaver]

28. You forgot to mention "kick black and brown voters to the curb"

Because these voters couldn't care less if you are interested in their pot gardens or beans and cornbread. They are voting Republican because they resent Democrats' diversity and Republicans feed their sense of white superiority. And the only way to get them into the Democratic tent is if they think they won't have to share it with us.

The rest is just an excuse.

[Phentex]

29. That sums it up...

For me this is true of the urban trump voter as well.

[StarfishSaver]

32. Yes

If only poor people voted for Trump, I'd buy the economic anxiety excuse. If only rich people voted for him, I'd buy the taking care of the rich excuse.

But the fact is that, with some exceptions, pretty much only WHITE PEOPLE vote for Trump. Rich white people. Poor white people. Working class white people. Rural white people. Urban white people.

If this were about economics, black people would be supporting him in equivalent proportions. But no. The common denominator is race.

This about race and racism. All of the other stuff is just a pretext. And we need to stop pretending otherwise.

[Hortensis]

30. We only want those to stay who are liberal or very moderate, progressive

conservatives. And not overwhelming numbers of the latter, if those currently still exist anywhere. The GOP has done its best to quash moderation and progressivism on the right.

Jefferson's and Madison's liberal Republican-Democratic Party was destroyed by an influx of conservatives who took it over. They then destroyed what they named the Democratic Party, supporting the slavery side of the Civil War, and nearly century later liberals took it back, its remnant hard-core southern conservatives becoming a rabid little opposition faction.

That happened when the dominant opposition-conservative party of that era crashed. It could happen again at the district and state levels, and is something to look out for.

[StarfishSaver]

33. Black people live in rural areas, too, you know

And they drive pickup trucks and love biscuits and gravy and beans and cornbread.

And they vote for Democrats.

WHITE rural voters vote for Trump, not because Democrats don't talk to them right ... but because of US.

[33taw]

34. This is one of the most offensive posts I have ever read. For a group of folks who consider

themselves inclusive, you sure don’t sound like it.

[uponit7771]

39. ***DEFINE THEM FIRST !!!*** Notice dems are NOT doing this very thing in GA !! They're waiting

... to debunk vs defining their opponent first

[redstatebluegirl]

41. How about not making fun of anyone who lives in or is from a rural area.

I grow weary of being put down here and on other venues because of my background in rural America. I will never apologize for being raised to value hard work and the people who do it every day. My Grandfather, Uncle and Father were all college educated farmers. We belonged to FFA, 4H and the Farm Bureau. When other farmers had problems, all of the farmers would show up to help them. We lived in a small, culturally conservative community.

They are good and hard working people. They have felt left behind for a long time. They also don't want a handout from the government, they want a fair market for the things they work so hard to produce. Most rural Americans balk at taking any assistance, they want a job, they want to work, that is what they value. Not so different from their Urban counterparts. They want to be able to feed their kids, send them to school and pass something on to them when they are gone. Our party has not done enough for them, we say we have, but we haven't.

Our party cannot win a national election, we cannot win enough Senate and House seats to maintain a majority, if we insist on talking down to a large part of the country. They don't want to see defund the police, they are not all racists either. My mom was heavily involved in the civil rights movement, she was in Selma and rode in the back seat of a car covered in a blanket to get back home to Illinois (two of her Black friends were driving her). If we really have a big tent, act like it. Think about it before you say some of the things that were said above.

I see my party leaving me to some extent. I have been accused of not being progressive enough because I don't agree with Bernie, AOC or the other far left in our party. I have been accused of not being a "real democrat" here and in other venues. I have only voted for 3 republicans in my life, I have worked for and given money to my party for over 40 years. I am a democrat, just may not be your type. We can't just focus on the cities, we cannot fall completely to the far left of our party or we will find ourselves out in the cold again. If we don't win, we can't change a damn thing. Nothing is going to change overnight.

[Baked Potato]

47. Thanks for taking the time to say these things. I agree with you here.

We got Trump out, but there is trouble brewing.

[ooky]

44. For the farmers, start trade wars that destroy their export markets.

Worked for Trump.

[Dial H For Hero]

45. Drop the push for banning assault weapons and high capacity magazines.

Red flag laws and universal background checks are overwhelmingly popular, keep advocating for those, but trying to ban tens of million of guns and hundreds of millions of magazines will never be a winning issue in rural areas.

[Baked Potato]

46. Acknowledge their existence and importance.

Acknowledge that college is not for everybody and push education in the manual trades. Acknowledge that people can have opposite views on, say abortion, and Democrats still want you.

[Roisin Ni Fiachra]

48. All beer will be free if you vote for me! nt