“One thing we have really found is a place to feel comfortable being ourselves,” Dean said. Americans are segregating by their politics at a rapid clip, helping fuel the greatest divide between the states in modern history.
One party controls the entire legislature in all but two states. In 28 states, the party in control has a supermajority in at least one legislative chamber — which means the majority party has so many lawmakers that they can override a governor’s veto. Not that that would be necessary in most cases, as only 10 states have governors of different parties than the one that controls the legislature
This can only end badly as conservatives seem to have no problem ruling over land in empty states.
Democrats need to offer financial incentives to help bring back jobs to rural areas. There needs to be something to counteract republicans using Christian out as a means to get votes. Until that happens you want see the left winning anything in rural areas. It sucks but the democrat platform tends to heavily favor cities.
We also need to figure out how to get people to stop choosing the worst possible reponses to crises all the fucking time. “Oh wages are stagnating? I want to commit genocide against trans people now! THIS MAKES PERFECT SENSE AND I AM A GOOD FACTS AND LOGIC BOY!!1!” ~Strawberry
Let’s be honest, they are not choosing that. Interest groups and their leaders are and it’s being disseminated to the populace through their mass media arms. Their voters have been conditioned to accept only the most extreme and conservative view because of a lack of opposing viewpoint that comes from their own communities. Democrats are always seen as the Other in rural areas largely because of the rural/urban divide and the fact the Democrats do not market their platform to rural voters. Even when they run candidates here it’s very rarely they actually run on how to improve people’s lives here.
A lack of an immediately presented opposing viewpoint doesn’t automatically force someone to become a genocidal fascist. They could look for something else. They could come up with something else. They could tell the fascist to fuck off while they wait. Not knowing what to do doesn’t magically turn someone into a fascist just because a fascist scumbag happened to grace their Facebook timeline first. ~Strawberry
I don’t think you will ever convince the ones voting for those policies. You need to convince the ones not voting that candidates actually care for their well being and inspire them to believe their vote matters. Our voter turnout remains low because most feel their vote doesn’t matter.
How do you make your vote mean something in a heavily gerrymandered area? And what do we do about those voting for those policies? Can’t do nothing with how much harm they cause. ~Strawberry
You can only hope to outvote them until redistricting happens in 2030. It’s sucks but winning elections, especially around the census absolutely have consequences. We need actual grassroots campaigns to get candidates with a winning formula. Stacey abrams should be heading the DNC because she is masterful at it.
Hope? That’s it??? Hoping doesn’t do anything. And Stacey Abrams is not heading the DNC, so that’s out of the picture. ~Strawberry
I don’t know what else you expect honestly? Either you give the non voters something to vote for or you accept the status quo, either way gerrymandered districts will not be looked at again until 2030. The voters you are trying to change, i suspect will not as most are single issue voters that have been told since birth that their worldview they are taught is correct. It’s not a matter of changing their mindset, you also have to contend with their entire world view is misguided, and that of their parents. It’s an uphill battle that I’m not sure will be won within a generation or even two. Many of the same voters you are talking about were raised by the same people who fought desegregation. The apple doesn’t fall from the tree. Hate isn’t an implicit idea we’re born with, you gotta be taught to hate.
Progress has to start somewhere though, and making policies that directly impact non voters is a sure way to turn them into voters for your platform. Writing off an entire area as a lost cause however will just deepen the divide and allow Republicans to push even more extreme platform positions because they get to virtually run unopposed at home. Their only danger is not being conservative enough and getting primaried.
And besides that, the dems, especially on a national level, don’t appear to be trying to make things significantly better. I mean they’re abandoning student loan forgiveness, aren’t doing much to push (and I mean push, not just politely ask the GOP to agree to pass a law saying that maybe we shouldn’t treat queer people like shit and then throw their hands up and act like they did everything they could when the genocidal fascists inevitably don’t agree to that before going back to fucking shit up). Simply put, it doesn’t seem like they’re trying to do anywhere near enough to fix all of these messes (including the US’ part in climate change for that matter) and have in some cases contributed to union busting efforts and such. And because of the terrible voting system we have here, if I want to vote for a third party or independent politician, I can’t because it’s effectively the same as throwing my vote in the garbage. There’s effectively zero chance a third party or independent can succeed here. Meanwhile we have fascists attempting coups (very few of those involved in J6 have faced any meaningful consequences for it, let alone the politicians at the top who planned it) and trying to commit genocide against trans people (cough DeSantis and his allies cough) who aren’t being held accountable for any of it despite the fact that genocide is the sort of shit that’s supposed to get you tried and thrown into prison. And of course, now we have tge Supreme Court taking bribes and just making shit up with no accountability for any of it. What are we supposed to do?! ~Strawberry
I firmly believe the Democrats don’t know how to capitalize on a win. The incessant need to compromise with bad faith actors dilutes any win they actually are capable of. It is a bedrock principle of a republic, but only when the other side is operating in good faith.
That’s true I suppose, though I have no idea what to do about that either. ~Strawberry
How can you compete with an echo-chamber of lies?
Ignoring their economic issues is not an option. Republicans run unopposed in many rural areas because there is no counter to their platform.
Yeah when i lived in a rural part of new york, republicans were usually the only candidates running for local elections.
How do we set one up? And how do we get people to stop responding to crises by rushing over to the first dipshit that says genocide is the best response? Why was that the response for many people??? ~Strawberry
I honestly think the infrastructure bill is the message that needs to be pounded into their ears. So many rural areas are absolutely crumbling from an infrastructure perspective. Literally everything is old, crumbling, and jobs are leaving. Democrats need to point out where the money for projects came from and where the new jobs came from. Then build off that. Representatives always have to run off of constituents saying, what have you done for me lately? Show them and plan for their future, cause the republicans don’t have anything but identity politics.
Of course, but we also need to convince people to stop defaulting to horrible bullshit that has nothing to do with solving the root causes of the ongoing crises in response to said crises just because some fascist scumbag happened to end up on their TV or Faceboom timeline first. And also do something about the fascist scumbags. ~Strawberry
I can see how a platform built on internet access to rural areas could really negate the need for local jobs. You could be educated online and work remote jobs from anywhere. A lot of tech people are moving to rural areas for this reason. Unfortunately I don’t think rural people are very interested in that kind of work, but their children are.
Which is why they move and don’t come back. Rural America has nothing for college students to draw them back.
Why can’t we admit rual areas are a failure and get people closer to where they work and what they provide?
Farms have been living on government hand outs for decades. It’s just unfair to act like rural areas arent ALREADY taking more than they give.
Rural America is a failed state.
Rural areas aren’t just farmlands. There is a symbiotic relationship between cities and rural areas that is often not discussed. Like it or not, natural resources that cities require to function must come from the rural areas. People will always live in rural areas and we shouldn’t just leave them to the whims of the Republican Party. The democratic party needs to return to being for blue collar workers just as much as white collar. These rural areas would see huge economic and political changes if unions came back.
The “fact” that living in a city is better is just an opinion, though. Not everyone wants to live in what is essentially a hive. I hate living in a city myself. I feel like I cannot get a single moment of privacy unless I’m in my own home, which I am forced to share with roommates, so even then…