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Is there any way for Democrats to win over rural white voters?
- Thread starter Deleted member 31923
- Start date
Democrats would have to show without a shadow of a doubt that conservatives hurt them more than Dems do.
The Adverts and messaging would have to be far more brutal and revealing than they are now.
And even still Racism and ignorance could mean none of this works.
Also I don't think Democrats currently have this type of fight in them tbh.
Like others have said education is also a major factor
The Adverts and messaging would have to be far more brutal and revealing than they are now.
And even still Racism and ignorance could mean none of this works.
Also I don't think Democrats currently have this type of fight in them tbh.
Like others have said education is also a major factor
Land grant colleges and the 1800s practice of setting aside a portion of a county for education is probably the only reason the upper Midwest has stayed as competitive as it has in the long run.
The most efficient way for Democrats to have any sway over rural states is to concentrate on the small to mid-size cities, which tend to dominate the culture and counties around them.
The small farmer that would vote Farmer-Fabor was already getting destroyed by mechanization in the 20s. The only reason a shadow of it exists in the Northeast is because of location and regulation.
A charismatic Democrat can peel off some voters in the deep south by pointing out how high taxes are there on essentials, like food and clothing, but instead of getting a Huey Long making the coalition, you usually get a guy like Josh Hawley hijacking the messaging.
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If small cities like my hometown had some proper support and development I wouldn't mind tbh
Honestly I'm not sure the republican party will win the popular vote anytime soon.
My plan includes Cali and NY proposing to resettle and pay a 5 year stipend to folks to move into sparsely populated states. Give em all jobs at satellite state offices setup in Wyoming, Idaho and all the square states.
Then you'll just have to contend with angry locals. Who is the first to sign-ups for that?
Then you'll just have to contend with angry locals. Who is the first to sign-ups for that?
Not without adapting policies that systematically target PoC, LGBT, women, and pretty much anyone that isn't a straight white male.
White rural men vote to hurt people, not to help themselves. The priority should be to target anti-democratic institutions like the US senate, Electoral college, voter suppression, and gerrymandered districts that give rural voters such a disaproportionate amount of power, not to try and appeal to them.
White rural men vote to hurt people, not to help themselves. The priority should be to target anti-democratic institutions like the US senate, Electoral college, voter suppression, and gerrymandered districts that give rural voters such a disaproportionate amount of power, not to try and appeal to them.
Yes in the longer term, a maintained 50 state strategy would pay dividend over the long term. The trade off is that those resources come at the expense of closer races elsewhere, but on the net it is a sound strategy.
It would also help if the Democratic Party was more aggressive in offering policies that would help rural voters.
It would also help if the Democratic Party was more aggressive in offering policies that would help rural voters.
No. You don't cast good seed into barren soil.
Focus on urban and suburban voters and issues.
The only way you'll win rural voters is by replacing them with better people.
Focus on urban and suburban voters and issues.
The only way you'll win rural voters is by replacing them with better people.
No, and we shouldn't bother. When we regain power we should redistrict and neuter the stupid system that gives rural areas an absurd amount of political capital.
It will take a generation, but it's possible if younger people grow up to be less conservative than their parents. And less fearful of the "others".
Moderate republicans can be turned with populist messages that don't focus too much on gun rights or abortion, or in the case of 2020, a painfully incompetent President they feel ashamed for voting for. I say this because in the last few months a large number of acquaintances of mine who are moderate republicans (old coworkers, clients, family, etc) have completely flipped on the GOP. Trump supporters and right-wing conspiracy theorists? They are fucking lost. The only way to deal with them is to scare them back into their holes out of fear.
how do you convince people that Donald Trump is a rich, out of touch yankee carpetbagger who hates their guts and thinks they're stupid when they've already decided they don't care?
It's a lot like "why can't republicans get 1/3 of black voters and win every election ever" because to do that you'd have to make changes to your party you don't want. In the Democrats case it would mean being anti immigrant again or turning the page back to Woodrow Wilson politics. I think the republicans abandoning white supremacy is an easier thing to imagine, given demographic trends.
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So, Iowa turned hardcore Republican last election, because white, Blue-collar workers were convinced Trump was going to make their lives amazing.
Given that he hasn't done any of that, Biden needs to really prove he is pro-union and will actually provide good programs for them to improve their careers - and all blue-collar workers.
I'm sure there's now some overlap in the conspiracy theorists, but given that Iowa was traditionally a swing state, I think the answer is that simple.
Given that he hasn't done any of that, Biden needs to really prove he is pro-union and will actually provide good programs for them to improve their careers - and all blue-collar workers.
I'm sure there's now some overlap in the conspiracy theorists, but given that Iowa was traditionally a swing state, I think the answer is that simple.
As someone who lives in rural Southwest Virginia the answer is Job's! In my county during the late 90's all of our jobs disappeared almost over night.
The sewing factories and other local factories closed up and moved to mexico for the cheap labor. Now there may be three places in my county that pay over $15 an hour and you have to "know someone" to even get a foot in the door at any of those places.
The sewing factories and other local factories closed up and moved to mexico for the cheap labor. Now there may be three places in my county that pay over $15 an hour and you have to "know someone" to even get a foot in the door at any of those places.
The "typical" rural Trump voter is a skilled laborer who makes $50K/year in a place where a 3 bedroom house costs $120K.
The idea that there are tons of disenfranchised GOP voters who lost their factory or mine or farm and just need to be convinced to vote Democrat is, I believe, a false narrative. Those people aren't voting. They're busy trying to survive. They need help, but they're not a significant voting bloc that can be turned.
No, there's no way to turn a GOP voter with a good job, an extremely low cost of living, deeply held religious beliefs, and 99% white neighbors into a Democrat. That's a fool's errand.
The idea that there are tons of disenfranchised GOP voters who lost their factory or mine or farm and just need to be convinced to vote Democrat is, I believe, a false narrative. Those people aren't voting. They're busy trying to survive. They need help, but they're not a significant voting bloc that can be turned.
No, there's no way to turn a GOP voter with a good job, an extremely low cost of living, deeply held religious beliefs, and 99% white neighbors into a Democrat. That's a fool's errand.
From the ones I'm most familiar with? No. They're single-issue voters on Abortion, say, and no Democrat platform would ever consider that an acceptable compromise.
What you *can* do is veer them towards voting independent/away from Trump specifically.
What you *can* do is veer them towards voting independent/away from Trump specifically.
Trust me maybe 5% of republican voters in my area make over 30k a year and they are the ones lucky enough to work in one of three major employers in my area. Everyone else just votes RED due to ignorance and lack of education. Its not a false narrative.
I'm 43 years old I lived it ,I saw the jobs go at the time i was entering the job market and they never came back. You have republicans preaching JOBS JOBS JOBS!!!! They never deliver but that is what these people want.
That's not entirely true or I would've never switched from Republican to Democrat. A lot of critical thinking skills I gained in College led me to register as a Democrat after growing up in an all republican family. The boomers? Yeah, they're probably a lost cause, but education will help their kids and grandkids.
Hard to say, it would take a lot of time and a commitment from the party to invest in rural America once again. However, it's an incredibly socially conservative area, and a lot of reforms people advocate for on here would not fly with that crowd. Only way I can see a shift left is if substantial social policy is implemented by some means - possible post-Covid under a Biden administration is we are very lucky - that will help them get by, but only if Republicans continue to oppose and threaten to reverse that sort of policy. Still, it wouldn't transform the states entirely. One thing is for sure, you won't win them on pandering to social issues.
The quickest, most effective, but also even more challenging road to take would be abolishing the electoral college (accompanied by a voting rights act), which would empower many Democratic voters in Red States and make them feel like their vote actually matters. This would work both ways of course, but ultimately be healthy for our democracy.
The quickest, most effective, but also even more challenging road to take would be abolishing the electoral college (accompanied by a voting rights act), which would empower many Democratic voters in Red States and make them feel like their vote actually matters. This would work both ways of course, but ultimately be healthy for our democracy.
THIS. Thank you. Making a better system to get those votes is better than the below:
Yes, abolish rather than revise to modern use the very system put in place to protect their voice from being drowned out by city voters. forcing them to not longer matter is a great way to get anyone to join your cause!
The electoral college was not set up to protect rural voters from cities. Firstly because electors originally weren't even chosen by popular vote, and more significantly because in 1789 almost 95% of voters lived in rural areas.
EC doesn't even protect rural voters today, in fact it only increases the power of voters in cities like Albuquerque and Las Vegas over everyone
Split up the US of A on a trial basis. Cut the dependent red states off from blue state funding and let the experiment play out. These people don't seem to care about anything until it hurts them, and the lessons that stay with you the longest are the ones that hurt the most. Let them pull themselves up by their bootstraps for a few years. Let them live in a conservative version of the ideal. After decades of Fox news and the industrial conservative media complex feeding them their bile, I don't believe there is any other way beyond real world consequences and actual pain -- save, maybe, deprogramming.
I know this will hurt those who do not vote for this bullshit, but the ask how to reach rural white voters not those caught in the middle. I wish there was another way, I do, I just don't see it.
I know this will hurt those who do not vote for this bullshit, but the ask how to reach rural white voters not those caught in the middle. I wish there was another way, I do, I just don't see it.
95% of them no, 5% of them yes, but generally only because something affects them so directly they finally realise that thing = bad
Older generations in those regions are most likely a lost cause sadly, you'd have to find a way to teach them that every single thing they were raised to believe is wrong and they aren't going to accept that.
I want to have more hope for younger generations in those areas, but the kind of people who devote their lives to hatred and bullshit Are going to suppress or just aren't going to allow their children to have access to information counter to what they are being taught.
I want to have more hope for younger generations in those areas, but the kind of people who devote their lives to hatred and bullshit Are going to suppress or just aren't going to allow their children to have access to information counter to what they are being taught.
I've lived in a rural area my whole life and have known rural white people for alot of it. I'm gonna say no. Most of them don't like the city people that's only a 20 minute drive from them. Forget the big cities like New York. Individuality is a disease out here that I don't think can be fixed. They like pretending the government doesn't even exist. Which is weird considering how much they benefit from government programs. No one goes to the post office more religiously then rural white people but Trump's ass still wants to kill USPS. Everytime I go down there and see a guy getting mail with a Trump sticker on his Truck I sigh. Lots of the.
Point is unless someone is willing to spend the money on a multi year long campaign to educate people on how the republican party is fucking them over then no, rural white people are a lost cause.
Point is unless someone is willing to spend the money on a multi year long campaign to educate people on how the republican party is fucking them over then no, rural white people are a lost cause.
They've held the country at gunpoint for far too long and the reason why we're in the situation we're in with this administration. But let's broker peace with an electorate who thinks Hillary ran a pedophile ring out of a pizza joint. Better yet, sink Fox News and that would probably fix a whole lot of things.
I think there's a lot more nuance to this than people saying "100% no lol racists gonna racist."
We are beholden by a fucked up electoral system. If we introduce ranked choice voting, candidates have to broaden their appeal to constituents in wide varieties of backgrounds and communities. This allows centrist candidates to pitch themselves not just to sensible neoliberals, but to the small town family in Dellroy Ohio that usually votes to the right because That's all they've been preached about for decades.
If we introduce ranked choice it forces candidates to broaden their outreach as well as allowing more than two candidates to run.
We are beholden by a fucked up electoral system. If we introduce ranked choice voting, candidates have to broaden their appeal to constituents in wide varieties of backgrounds and communities. This allows centrist candidates to pitch themselves not just to sensible neoliberals, but to the small town family in Dellroy Ohio that usually votes to the right because That's all they've been preached about for decades.
If we introduce ranked choice it forces candidates to broaden their outreach as well as allowing more than two candidates to run.
Anger.
There will come a point slowly where more and more realize republicans are actively destroying the only way they stay alive, subsidies, Medicare/Medicaid, etc and get angry enough that they can't rationalize anymore.
There will come a point slowly where more and more realize republicans are actively destroying the only way they stay alive, subsidies, Medicare/Medicaid, etc and get angry enough that they can't rationalize anymore.
On top of this making policies to protect their livelihood may help soften them. Too many communities are reliant on a single major employer. When those employers leave the area to save money these communities suffer.
Not entirely, true, but the proportionality of the voting by districts (which has the gerrymandering effect) is an important piece of it. If that didn't exist the large cities in almost all states would make the states always blue (with some exceptions, of course) and it would do the very thing people are complaining about the EC doing now: making their vote "not matter" insofar as the result of popular vs EC.
Really, removing the electors from being the state results and make them be the county results, but keeping the same number of electors, would balance this out much better since, as you said, back at the time most voters were rural, but not now. It would bring the results of popular and EC much closer together and help keep states from outright moving their district lines to get a desirable outcome for a particular party.
Hyperbole aside, FOX News needs to be shut down and very, very hard. The fact I have family that believes their nonsense is actually insulting to me.
The system is built to keep people ignorant, you can't control an educated people forever, so you fuck with education. People of color ain't the only people caught in a system.
The capitalist system Americans were born in and grew up under?
They weren't born this way. Poor whites have been tricked into protecting the interests and capital of the rich. They defend a system that is destroying them because they've been lied to their entire lives, being told minorities and anything else is the issue. And they, throughout their lives, have not typically had access to quality education, or have been taught to vilify education.
Most of them may be far too gone, but i think it's important to understand why they got there.
If you've ever been or lived in a small country town, you'll notice their towns sometimes only have a church and a gas station and sometimes not even a gas station! Their social life is all based around the church. It's their meeting spot where they get to meet up with other people. The only way to win over these voters is to support abortion, but you are still from the party that supports abortion vs the party that's been against it for decades.
Trust me, they already hate rich people. But they hate Democrats more.
Edit: Look most of these rural poor white people already hate rich people and the "elite" that live in cities. If you had a political party that was pro union, pro universal health, prove workers rights, and anti big business. But was also anti immigrant, anti Diversity, and anti LGBT. They'd probably vote for them.
It's quite easy. All you gotta do is pledge your hatred for anyone that's not white cisgendered males, and rural America will eat it up instantly.
Culture war bs is really important to rural white voters. So in other words, no. As long Dems oppose banning abortion and want more gun control there will be no way to win them over, even if liberal financial policies will only serve to improve their lives.
I went to school down in South GA and that won't cut it. Teachers will straight not teach something that goes against their world view. My biology teacher refused to talk about evolution, my history teacher loved Bush and we didn't talk about the civil rights movement basically at all (I only know because I'm black and my Sunday school basically Dedicated black history month to learning the civil rights movement). And this was during a period of increased funding down here. It got cut my senior year. Anyway the south has social and cultural problems to address. But to many people in power want things to stay the same.
Shit, if we could get a few million people from Cali into Wyoming, ND, SD, and Alaska then we'd have 8 more senators lol.
Now I'm sad after realizing that 4 states with a population of like 3 million gets 4 times the reps as a state with the population of over 30 million.
