Do We Disrespect Rural America?

[McCamy Taylor]

The obvious reason to hack the rural vote is that it typically comes in later, so the people stealing an election can see how far their candidate is behind and then make up the difference. However, when they decided to hack the rural vote, I think they also reasoned that Democratic urban dwellers would buy the lie that people who live in the country are "dumb" enough to fall for Trump.

I don't think rural folks are dumb, and I don't think they voted overwhelmingly for Trump.

[LonePirate]

1. It's challenging to respect people who do not respect themselves.

Rural areas consistently vote against their own best interests by supporting candidates who do nothing but make their lives more difficult. Rural voters seem to be suffering from sort of massive lack of self-respect or the electoral equivalent of Stockholm Syndrome.

[radical noodle]

4. They are in their own little bubble

They lack higher education for the most part, and have little contact with people that are not just like them. I have some understanding of them because I've lived in rural America but they really need to become accustomed to the idea that the world is changing and moving forward instead of thinking they can take us back 70-80 years.

[spedtr90]

44. I'm a rural American

College educated, like many of my neighbors, even those who farm. Trips to Vegas and winters in Arizona and Florida are common. Some are doing very well, and some struggle. Some elderly living on Social Security and others living well and leaving big sums to community and church. The food shelf gets traffic from residents and seasonal workers.

I've lived here almost 40 years, and it's always been a red area, but it became RED after Obama's election. Conspiracy and "humor" e-mails began flying, Rush and FOX became trusted news sources, and it got worse every year. At the same time I've also watched college-educated, city-living, high-salaried family members drift far right; raising their kids on FOX and fear. In their eyes, I'm the uneducated. I know this because they send and share their "news" with me. It pops up in social gatherings. Since Obama they've decided America needs God, and God is Republican. Social issues - gays, abortion, prayer in school, godless liberals, union thugs, black thugs - are THE issues. They were wary of Trump at first, but got past it because "he'd surround himself with good people", and "good people" laid hands on him and prayed. Shifting the Obama hate to Clinton was seamless. The mainstream media fell fast too. Most abandoned it long ago. I do believe it started because they could not handle the reality of a black president, and that led them into the arms of the right. Black customers, black friends, black classmates - fine. President - not fine.

I've never stopped debunking the things I'm told, sent, and shared on social media, but it doesn't matter. They shrug it off. I don't believe this happened from a lack of education. They've been radicalized by right wing media and eventually by one another. The stuff they believe is mind-boggling, and they believe it so firmly it is terrifying. They created a bubble, and there's a lot of hate in it. Obama may leave, but that they've been living on hate for 8 years, and it will need somewhere to go. I'm not optimistic at all.

[RKP5637]

52. I think this is an excellent analysis!!!! n/t

[smirkymonkey]

53. Thank you for sharing your experience.

Very enlightening.

[yardwork]

63. This is the best summation I've seen anywhere. I wish you could publish this.

I grew up in a rural area and worked in rural communities for years after that. You are exactly correct.

[spedtr90]

69. Thanks

Now what can we do about it?

We're all supposed to "unite" now, they tell me. Stop with complaining (complain is defined as mention of any actual facts that reflect negatively on Trump and Co.) because "not everyone agrees with you". Protest is looked at with disdain, so why bother to be concerned about what those wimps think? "Grow up!" We're supposed to "suck it up like we did when Obama got elected". I'd laugh, but it just too sad.

[yardwork]

78. Good questions. We have to figure out how to correct the disinformation.

It's very difficult to dislodge beliefs that are entwined with emotion and religion. A lot of people are now emotionally invested in believing extreme and bizarre falsehoods.

I have no confidence that they will see the light when Trump fails to deliver. They'll just blame Obama.

Voltaire offers one path. We can tend our own garden. Living an ethical and rational life puts us at an advantage. We can help our loved ones and ourselves survive and even thrive. The advice I'm giving my grown children is to be strong, resilient, and ready to use opportunities.

I am opposed to violent protests. I believe they are counterproductive. I am prepared to put my body on the line if it comes to that, but I prefer to create change from within.

I think that our Democratic committees on the local, state, and national levels need to use stronger rhetoric. Apparently many Americans prefer a rant to a nuanced speech. We need orators.

We need to create internet information campaigns of our own. They need to be clever and effective marketing. This is not the time for ponderous academic arguments. We need to harness public relations approaches to get the truth out.

[2naSalit]

79. Rural resident here too

and much of what I see is what you describe. It should be noted that progressive news or incoming information is not common is these areas due to the few providers of teevee, radio and print media, especially out here in the sticks (or mountains in many cases). Perspective relative to politics is strongly based on anecdotal evidence and emotive inspiration in many cases. the lack of curiosity about the validity of what they are exposed to is what I find troubling as well as a major acceptance of fake news and an abundance of closed minds.

[DemonGoddess]

103. Thank you

agree with you on this, as I live in a primarily rural area as well. The things I heard where I last worked, regarding PBO and then HRC were absolutely mind boggling.

[tenderfoot]

109. "radicalized by right wing media"

I keep bringing this up in regard to this topic and it keeps getting ignored. I live on the west coast and once outside large metropolitan areas, there is nothing to listen to but religion and right wing talk radio. That is all that is available in rural America and it is a HUGE reason why they vote against their own best interests.

[hollowdweller]

110. I had 2 friends who were a truck driver and a traveling salesman

Both became radical republicans because they spent so much time listening to the radio driving.

One, once they stopped doing that job actually became a democrat. The constant right wing barrage was over.

Fox is on in lobbies and stuff.

Being a Democrat is being uncool. You are not in the club.

[GreenEyedLefty]

100. I grew up in a rural area and I'm still connected to it.

The bubble they live in is shrinking. They are no longer insulated from the changes time has wrought. Not only has the "new economy" left them behind, they are noticing shifts in the demographics in their communities and at the same time they are hearing and internalizing the noise from right wing radio and TV. The changes they are seeing are not something to welcome, they are a threat to life in their bubble. When Obama spoke of people clinging to their guns and religion he was 100% correct, except it sounded like a preachy liberal saying those words, not a teller of the truth. They resent being talked about, instead they want and need to be talked to. That is the mistake Democrats make, time and again.

[Liberal In Texas]

2. No.

Our rural cousins have way too much power. They are who they are, but when they have over 50X power over my vote, something is wrong.

[JI7]

3. i don't think they are dumb either that's why i think most voted for him over bigotry

and not because they were fooled by him.

[whathehell]

10. They're not necessarily dumb, but most are uninformed & lack education

and the critical thinking that comes with it. It's not all about bigotry.

[JI7]

12. that's true of city and surburban types also. they might have more formal education but not much

critical thinking.

[Kathy M]

18. No ....... May want to rethink what you said ..........

Wanted to add....... agree it's not all about bigotry , sexism or what ever other label that was thrown around

[smirkymonkey]

54. I think religion has a lot to do with it. The refusal to look at things critically.

Most of the areas that are heavily republican are also extremely religious. They bow to authority.

[whathehell]

70. Do you mean ALL religion, or just Christianity and Islam?

I can't speak to Islam, but I can to Christianity...If thet is the religion you are actually speaking of, you may need a primer on what might best be called "Christianities", as too many here make the huge mistake of lumping ALL Christianities in with the Evangelical Fundies who do NOT reflct mainstream Christianity, and who are actually a minority in this country.

I was raised a mainstream Christian and have no problems 'thinking critically'. Thom Hartmannn is a self professed Christian , and I'm sure you'd agree he has no problems in that area either..

No, I stand by my original conclusion that the major problem is a lack of education and information.

[smirkymonkey]

73. I think mostly fundamentalist religions. Not the more liberal denominations

of religion, since I know many good people who are religious and open minded as well.

[whathehell]

74. Glad to hear that.

[smirkymonkey]

75. Sorry, didn't mean to clump them all in together! The south and midwest are filled

with fundies, but I know many good religious people that are not fundies.

[whathehell]

77. No problem...I appreciate your

confirming your actual views.

[hollowdweller]

112. Conservatisim is a religion.

You think you are right, you commune with only others of the faith and you think everybody else is evil.

Also religion makes people believe in things based on faith not fact.

[smirkymonkey]

115. You have a good point.

That it is about faith and not fact.. They do not like facts.

[GreenEyedLefty]

101. They are dis-informed.

They listen and read plenty, except the only game in town is right wing talk radio and Fox News, which speak directly to them. The trouble is that Democrats fail to connect with these communities. They saw Trump as someone who talked to them, not just about them. JMO.

[whathehell]

102. Good point..

Being 'disinformed'is a lot easier in the presence of a Right Wing media environment and the absence the Fairness Doctrine we once had.

[moondust]

15. ...

Last edited Sat Nov 26, 2016, 12:02 PM - Edit history (2)

I think it's mainly bigotry in places where most people either have very little experience interacting with minorities OR they live in an area with a history of slavery/dual cultures. Some rural areas like Iowa and Wisconsin have in the past been known for their high literacy rates and now they've both apparently gone for Trump.

On edit: I don't think rural folks necessarily started off as bigots and many aren't, but rural white monoculture was found to be fertile ground by political and religious demagogues including some white supremacists. Rural folks generally didn't want "city problems" with riots, drugs, etc., and those were often blamed on minorities.

In 2015 this site claimed Iowa had the highest literacy rate and the highest graduation rate in the country: http://www.onlyinyourstate.com/iowa/13-reasons-proud-ia/

[JI7]

16. Iowa has always had a strong evangelical side to it so i'm not too surprised by that . Wisconsin had

more to do with Clinton not campaigning there and thinking it was a safe blue state. if she had just campaigned there i think she would have won.

they should have treated many of those midwest states like Nevada more than California(which actually is a safe blue state).

[Fla Dem]

117. Totally agree. They finally had a chance to strike back against POC, Muslims, LGTB, Latinos and

every "other" they had to quietly endure as they gained their their rights and immigrated into the USA. Now they had a hero, someone who would "tell it like it is" who would fight their fight for them.

[RandySF]

5. I think we just don't have any easy answers for them.

The jobs that left are not coming back. And for those who voted on cultural issues, what do we do? I grew up yo know right from wrong, and I will not throw women, minorities and the LGBT Americans under the bus.

[rwheeler31]

6. The republican party networks with these rural preachers

to get there message out quickly. I don't know exactly how they fund them but the small towns cannot be supporting them with donations. They whip up the notion that city folk are disrespecting them all the time.

[hollowdweller]

113. In that way conservatisim is like Islam

The leaders and state often use it to rally the troops.

[Lotusflower70]

7. To a degree yes

When people look down on rural Americans, I think that is disrespectful. I think it's insulting to call them dumb or uneducated. You certainly aren't going to do any sort of successful outreach with that approach. Some may have less education but that could be from necessity more than anything. Different cultures, different priorities. Also some emphasis a certain way of life and feel it is being threatened.

[Duckhunter935]

30. Just look at how many times in this thread

They are being insulted by being told they are uneducated. That will never help.

[dawg]

32. But we are less educated.

Education is a measurable state, and we rural dwellers do have less education than urbanites. It's just a fact, and there is no reason to deny it or to consider it an insult.

[Duckhunter935]

39. There are different types of education

Formal and the kind you get by working and learning a trade. Many my not have that paper degree, but they are highly educated.

[exboyfil]

45. Yes.

Agricultural equipment is extremely complex. I am an engineer working in the field, and I do not understand all of it (did not grow up with it, and I focus on one specific subsystem). I saw this with the jokes about Joni Ernst. Whatever you think about her politics, demeaning her about her comments about castrating swine only served to alienate voters. The 2014 Senator race in Iowa was just a precursor for the 2016 Presidential race. I knew Braley and supported him, but his campaign had a lot of similarities to Clinton's run.

Farmers are also aware of market prices and international trade given how much of our food stocks are exported. That would have been an area that Clinton could have explored. I thought post offices could also be an area to be explored (privatizing post offices would lead to much higher postal rates). Also I wonder if pay for usage roads would not also involve additional costs to rural voters (or lack of good roads if the cost can't be supported). This is particularly ironic since many farmers use non-taxed gas in the diesel engines of their pick ups.

[dawg]

48. See, that's just pandering.

Life educates us all, but we rural voters have less formal education and that is a fact.

[Maeve]

65. And this may get attacked as well, but I also come from a rural area

And for decades the 'best and brightest' have been encouraged to move away--"You're too smart to stay here; go to college and make something of yourself." Not saying all followed that advice, but in my class of 1973, almost all who stayed near home were the 'general studies' students, the ones who didn't take either the college or business tracks in high school. The factories mechanized or closed, half the stores on Main street are empty and everyone shops at Walmart because it has the cheapest prices. It's also one of the few places open. And the drug use has become epidemic in a way it never was back in the day. Which also means more break-ins, more crime in general, more need for health and social services than the system was ever set up to handle....

[smirkymonkey]

55. However a formal education teaches one to think critically and that is what they lack.

That is why they are so susceptible to right-wing propaganda. That is why they are so bound by their prejudices.

[ebbie15644]

107. They are not educated in the respect of cultural aspects. Sorry but I too have lived in

rural america and they do live in their bubble. They tend as a group to have contempt for highly educated people. I would get stared at for even talking to someone that was black. Because I wasn't born in their town, I was looked down on. They never question what their preconceived notions might be and believe what their local church says like god has come down and spoke to them. NRA rules their political beliefs also, it gun and god in that order. The fact that people were pushing increased background checks and it came from a black democratic president, terrified them. They believe everything FOX says. This is what we are up against and it is spreading.

[lunasun]

50. Trump praised them for being uneducated and they cheered . Why the insult now?.

Trump loves the uneducated and they loved trump right back
I never heard they took offense and were turned off by trump saying that
They were not insulted by his choice to identify them as uneducated

[Lotusflower70]

76. Exactly

He pushed a button that tuned them in. Whether or not we agree with him, he spoke to them and flocked to him.

[Cosmocat]

61. Sorry, but the worst thing posted here

PALES in comparison to what they say about us.

[Warpy]

8. There has always been city slicker/country hayseed tension in this country

that has been unfair to both groups. Yes, rural people tend to be less educated in general, but the successful ones have college degrees in things like soil science and other agricultural fields. Dumb they aint.

I think if you're looking for dumb people who truly did fall for Trump, you'd do better to look in suburbs and exurbs.

[susanna]

22. Yep. n/t

[N_E_1 for Tennis]

41. Think you nailed it Warpy.

I live in Southeast Michigan, Tri-County region. Wayne, Macomb, Oakland all urban or suburban.
A great chunk of my family lives in rural Michigan, they are Libertarian have been forever and vote that way, this election included. All abhorred Trump.

I felt in real trouble 2 weeks before the election when all the Trump signs popped up like mushrooms after a spring rain. My normally blue area turned into Trumpland.

[bhikkhu]

9. Respect is earned

I live in a semi-rural area and know farmers and ranchers, and lots of their relations who've gone on to other careers. There are many that I respect and trust, but hard work, isolation and bad habits can break people. There's nothing to gain from respecting broken people, especially when they don't know it themselves. Having compassion is a different thing.

[murielm99]

11. This thread is very much like

the bash-the-South threads that used to show up here.

I am a rural American. So is my husband. Many farmers have college degrees. It is not possible to be a successful farmer these days without one. Not all farmers are repubbies, either.

Not everyone out here stopped their education with their high school diploma. We have pharmacists, veterinarians, business owners, nurses, doctors, teachers. Nearly every teacher I know in this area is a Democrat. Not everyone out here is sitting around waiting for trump to hand back an obsolete manufacturing job.

I did quite a bit of canvassing and phone banking in my area. I tabled at a community college. I will tell you what I found in the three county area where I did most of my work: Millenial males were the ones voting for trump. Yes, of course there were others, but that group was the voting block I found most loyal to trump.

I am tired of the ignorance I am reading here. I have seen plenty of loudmouthed rednecks in big cities, too.

[TreasonousBastard]

23. "They" You see a lot of that, and not just here. Regions do have...

some generalizations that can be made, but it's just too easy to say "they" believe, or "they" do... without knowing a damn thing about "them".

I lived most of my life in and around New York City and I found incredible ignorance and bigotry there right next to brilliance and kindness. And not all of either from people you would expect.

Right now I'm labout iving 50 miles outside of the city, but pretty much in the metropolitan area with many ties to the city. Well over half the population in my town is farmers or summer people, but we have a lot of Grumman retirees, Plum Island and Brookhaven scientists, and there's Stony Brook and several other universities out here so we are not uneducated.

But we went for Trump, and overwhelmingly re-elected our extreme right wing Congressman.

Go figure.

[JonLP24]

24. Had only millennials voted, Clinton would've won in a landslide.

The history books won't count millennials among the coalition that put president-elect Donald Trump into office, as most younger voters came out for Hillary Clinton. But in a departure from past voting patterns, young millennials were also keen on third-party candidates this year—nearly one in 10 voted for Jill Stein or Gary Johnson or wrote in their own candidate. Here are three ways to parse the numbers, based on an analysis of exit polls by the Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning & Engagement.
1. Democrats took the millennial vote—just not among whites.
Among the younger portion of the millennial generation, 18 to 29 year olds, Trump earned 37 percent of the vote to Clinton's 55 percent. Millennials of color were considerably more likely to support Clinton than Trump, Circle found, while young white voters actually threw more support behind the winner. Trump secured 48 percent of the white vote in the 18-to-29 age group, while Clinton won just 43 percent. Still, Republicans fared poorly with youth vote overall. The election had the fourth-lowest turnout by young voters for a GOP nominee since 1972.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-11-09/what-this-election-taught-us-about-millennial-voters

I don't disagree with you but don't think millennials are the problem.

[ucrdem]

13. They've got it down to a system don't they?

But the perps seem to have gotten complacent this time and it might be their undoing. They count on the defeated Dem slinking off in a cloud of blame and shame and they don't make recounts easy so Stein going offscript and challenging the results might turn up a few surprises.

[Afromania]

14. it's a two way street

They seem to have a distinct disdain for us as well, or at least that's what the media implies.

[JI7]

17. in 2012 West Virginia Democratic Primary a Prison inmate got more than 40 percent of the vote

against Obama.

keep in mind this was just the DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY . so even just among democrats in the states almost half went for someone in prison over a black man .

[Afromania]

19. hypocrites, the lot of em

Didn't say they weren't bigoted as hell, just that they generally don't respect folks from cities and not in their little bubble of humanity I think maybe I was misunderstood when I said the media. Maybe I should have stated that differently. What I meant was more along the lines of TV and movies where everybody outside of the rural/smalltown bubble was a fast talking lier,rapist, cheat, whatever.

It's sickeningly ironic that they elected EXACTLY the kind of person that they purport to hate, a New York City Luxury real estate developer. Not that cut his bones in during the excesses of the late 70's and 80's.

[femmocrat]

25. Sure they did.

I live in trumpland. There were trump signs everywhere, completely lining the roads, in every front yard. Some even flew banners or had American flags around their signs. They decorated their stupid gigantic pickup trucks with huge confederate flags. Some of them are still displaying their signs, banners and flags. Clueless rubes, IMO.

[dawg]

34. American flags?

They had Confederate ones where I live. Or else that piss-yellow snake flag.

[dembotoz]

26. Read the book blue jean Nation...by Mike McCabe

Wisconsin viewpoint,. He saw this train a coming

[meow2u3]

27. I think Rural America has been victims of a steady diet of right-wing propaganda

that not only shows no sign of abating, it has no pushback from the middle, let alone from the left.

This propaganda not only comes from AM talk radio and Fox "News", but also from authoritarian fundie preachers and bishops.

[RKP5637]

58. I've always wondered why this is only from the right. Maybe right wing stuff sells better. Many

people often do not get too excited when things are going well, but interject right wing crap and it's an attention getter and more revenue. It's pathetic.

[Qutzupalotl]

106. There is more ad revenue available from the right.

As Air America found out, the majority of small businesses who advertise lean right rather than left. It's more profitable to cater to the right. A lot of the left's message is anti-corporate, which is just a stone's throw from being anti-small-business in the eyes of the entrepreneur.

I don't know of a solution to all this. Of course, the right-wingers see their media success as due to the rightness of their ideas, which is bull.

[RKP5637]

114. And sadly so many people hear/watch it and think their BS is the absolute truth. n/t

[forthemiddle]

28. urban vs rural mindset

I live right smack in the middle of Wisconsin (hence my name). I started posting when Walker recall was underway, and I tried to warn everyone here that the disrespect that the rural voters were getting from the Madison elite was not helping!
A whole lot of my neighbors voted for Obama, but turned around and voted for Trump. I heard the term, "I guess I'm deplorable" more than I ever thought possible.
I also happen to know that the majority of people I heard from were not voting for Trump, they were voting against Hillary! It had nothing to do with her gender, but instead the disregard she had for them.
She NEVER came to the State during the general election. She didn't even start an ad campaign here until one week before the election! I don't mean to imply that voters needed coddling, but Donald Trump was here (almost exclusively in the rural areas) 10 times, so when the news came on it was Donald Trump rallies all the time, and people started to think that at least he cared. Whenever Hillary sent her surrogates (Chelsea went to college towns alot) it was always mentioned that Hillary still hadn't stepped into the state.
Another thing rural people love is their cops, because most of them are the people they went to school with, their relatives, their friends. After the convention I did here some rumbling about the whole night dedicated to the Moms of men killed by cops, and people were saying around here "Blue lives matter too". Every single day on my facebook pages the memes shared the most are the ones thanking the police, and servicemen for their service, yet we didn't hear that from the Dems.
I don't think calling someone racist, and yes "deplorable" then expecting their votes is a winning strategy.

[treestar]

36. So they punish themselves

Because Hillary did niot physically go there.

[forthemiddle]

42. I didn't say I agree

But to second guess anyones reason for voting, and then to demonize them for it is never a good idea.

There is a reason that almost all campaign ads end with "I'm asking for your vote", or something like that, it's because it's been proven to work. When all you see is Trump coming to your area, and Hillary deciding she doesn't need to, that says something to people. One politician cared, one didn't.

I don't have numbers, but I know for a fact that Obama came to Wisconsin ALOT in 2008 and 2012. He won, she didn't. Coincidence? Maybe, but people do like to think that they are at least not an afterthought.

Also the "deplorable" comment did way more harm than good. Even if it was downgraded, and explained away here on DU. It was almost worn as a badge of honor in these parts. "HAHA, I guess I'm deplorable".

[exboyfil]

51. Never insult the voters

That comment may have cost Clinton enough votes to lose the election.

Not going to Wisconsin was insane in hindsight, and will be viewed as one of the biggest political mistakes in history. Not sure what you could have done about Pennsylvania though, but Michigan and Wisconsin definitely did not have enough focus. I wonder if a midwesterner V.P. candidate could have helped without losing Virginia (which was also close - just not as close as the three midwestern states).

[lunasun]

43. if they immediately identified with being a deplorable then it seems most likely the townspeople

were already supporting trump at that point and what he said he stood for . They self identified. Madison elite - see you folks have names for different places too !

[forthemiddle]

49. Just keep talking down to them

And I am sure they will come around to your way of thinking!

That's the ticket!

[lunasun]

80. I don't think if I went In that area many people would talk to me period

Maybe one of those neighbor police would stop and ask me where I got the nice car and ask me for registration papers . They would stop me because I don't look like I belong in a car like that has been my past experience. They sure have asked a lot of personal questions before letting me go
I got the car and lots of cash from hard work not drug dealing.
Maybe they would tolerate having to serve me at an establishment but I wouldn't count on any friendly conversation where that would come up. They the rural people are rarely what I would call friendly compared to people in other countries or in more diverse locations. May not be openly friendly or smiling is just not their way but whatever just leave them be so I won't be talking to them at all really
Now that I am older I do not take my family to areas like that because they don't need the hassles or poor service
We are close by in the Chicago area but use our travel dollars to go to yes other big cities or liberal areas where people talk to us as though we are the regular folk we are . Plenty of woods on the west coast and Canada to explore all with more receptive hosts so no reason to interact with Wisconsin trump voters and please don't tell me they will change their mind about what they think.am or how I live if I did try

[forthemiddle]

82. Honest question

Have you actually spent any time in rural Wisconsin?
We are predominately white, but in my area we have multiple POC, and a large population of Hispanics.
Again they are nowhere near the majority, but I can tell you they are hard working (and not service type jobs), in our local foundry, and many working in our hospital (our two local industries).
They aren't the ones being pulled over, etc. They are just our friends and neighbors.
To tell the truth, our biggest problem in my rural area is heroin, and the crimes that stem from that.
It isn't the African Americans, or Hispanics that are the trouble. It's the middle class white kid that first got hooked on Grandmas pain killers.
If you came to my area of Wisconsin, you wouldn't be uncomfortable, that I can guarantee.
As a liberal, I am constantly impressed at the kindness of my neighbors, and the people I work with. (And guess what, we even have one or two gays around!)
We also don't wear sheets, or fly our confederate flags!

[lunasun]

83. Yes

[taught_me_patience]

47. Yet, not a single candidate has ever set foot in California

for years, but we vote and move on. We don't hold our breath and then stab ourselves in the eye about it. That's a childish mentality.

[Historic NY]

29. They wanted to take their country back........

now we will see how far. Isn't that what Donald Trump promised them......everything from coal to keeping the darkies in their place.

[liquid diamond]

86. And yet

I keep seeing posts here that demand we sacrifice our principles as democrats and court these racists assholes. I say fuck them. Fuck them. Trump can keep those klansmen. They are right where they belong. We should focus on people who didn't vote. That should be enough to tip the scales in our favor.

[ileus]

31. We should punish these people every chance we get.

Take my state for instance...Virginia. We're in power here and should punish the "red" counties accordingly until they vote properly.

[RegexReader]

35. Punish them?

Seriously? What do you propose to do?
Go burn their houses down? Cut off electricity and water? Kill their pets? Take their children and send them to a re-education camp?
Yeah, that'll surely win hearts and minds.

[ileus]

38. we refuse education dollars, road dollars...emergency assistance ect...

It's not about winning hearts and minds they can't be reasoned with, Hillary was right they're not redeemable so why try. The only thing they understand is brute force so we give them a big dose of what they want to give us. They'll fall in line eventually or they'll move to areas that vote properly seeking relief.

[RegexReader]

67. really?

It's not about winning hearts and minds they can't be reasoned with, Hillary was right they're not redeemable so why try.

Were you a strategist for the Viet Nam war? If that is your approach, you've already lost and those on the margins will move away also.

But I tell you what, go ahead. See how well it works out for you. When tRump carries those areas in 2020 to win re-election when another royal blue blood screech is run, what will your reaction then be? Going to double down on 'punishing' them? Denying them emergency assistance & ambulance service? Is that what being liberal now means? What next? Close their hospitals and medical clinics? Hey! Here's an idea that'll really get them to come around, deny their elderly Medicare & Medicaid. Close the nursing homes and throw their grandmothers out on the street. They're not redeemable, so why bother?

Put any dog in a corner and start kicking them, and they're going to bite you. And you don't think that these people are any better than dogs? Quite progressive of you. These people may not have an Ivy League diploma on their wall but they would see their situation is worsening due to (D) actions. And do you think that they're go lick the boots that kick them?

So inclusive.
So diverse.
So tolerant of you.

With this type of approach and attitude, winning in 2020 has zero possibility. These people voted not because they're bigots but voted their jobs & futures. How many had been laid off for years and drove past the padlocked factory where they used to work while promised some pie-in-the-sky service job while Hillary was supporting TRRP that was going to ship more of their jobs overseas. Someone that looked like a pissed off ex-wife that only went to $100,000/plate events didn't appeal to them. Stop and think!, the cost of one plate was three times what these people made in a year. And she was somehow a better option that tRump?

Again, Bernie would have appealed and reached out to these people and would have won. And won big.

[phylny]

89. I'm in that red part of Virginia,

and I don't know what would help.

People around here have probably never traveled four hours north. It's a totally different culture (I used to live in Loudoun County in the early 2000s, now in Bedford). Plus, the Republicans have a stranglehold on state government - except for the Governor. I and 9,732 others, a bit fewer than one out of four voters here, add our vote to yours up north to turn the state blue.

[ileus]

92. I'm in butt end red of Virginia.

I was probably one of 3 votes for Hillary in my county.

[Abq_Sarah]

91. That sounds rather totalitarian.

"Obey me or you will be punished!"

Yeah, that'll work.

[ileus]

93. We know what's best for them, so try instead "authoritative guidance".

Just like with my kids it sometimes take "tough love" to get them to see the light.


It's worked for other countries...it'll work for America.

[Fla_Democrat]

94. Is that enough?

I mean, your ideas are historically.. uhm.. founded, but does it go far enough? I mean, when the 'unredeemables' move to an area that 'vote properly'... should they be allowed to just interact with the population? They may say something, or do something that would trigger... 'normal people'.. Gosh (can't say God, that is verboten) can you imagine if one of the 'unredeemables' would move in and try to put up a flag? American flag, that is. Other types would still be acceptable, and encouraged, provided they met the approved list.

Maybe they should all be, uhm, channeled to a specific location, where it's easier to monitor them to be sure they aren't causing problems. I don't want to use the term ghetto, more like a re-education camp. Where they could live, and work (for the betterment of the state), and enjoy the benefits of being under the protection of people who are vastly superior to them. And, if a few rabble rousers who wont get their minds right go missing in the middle of the night... Well, they must have left the peoples paradise and went home to live in filth and squalor.

Maybe a special force should be created to help them adjust and be available to help them correct their behavior... what would be more appropriate? Stasi or Tonton Macoute?

[ileus]

95. Maybe you're right, maybe they shouldn't be allowed to leave until the demonstrate

in several ways they're reformed.

[Pathwalker]

116. You could always stop eating the food produced by "rural America".

Starve their pocketbooks by only eating food produced in the blue cities. Put your money where your mouth is. UNtied States, yeah, that's the ticket..

[Hangingon]

119. What goes around comes around.

Beware. Would you want to be punished. I am certain that there are voices on the other side that are saying all Blue ares should be punished. In some minds therecount efforts will conrm that sanctuary cities must be punished/

[dawg]

37. We do have less education.

And there is no good reason our votes should count more than those of urban dwellers.

As for critical thinking and cluelessness, we'll just wait and see whether or not Donald Trump actually brings back all those high-paying coal mining and assembly line jobs before we make a ruling on that one.

[jmg257]

40. I think you got the inteligence levels correct, but severally underestimate

how much they went for trump - for whatever reasons.

I was very surprised Hillary lost, but at recent gatherings, I was also surprised to see how many people had supported trump.
In some instances a quick count showed it was like 25-5.

And this is not fly-over land, but upstate area in the NE.

[backscatter712]

46. When's the rural white trash going to stop disrespecting us?

Why shouldn't I disrespect a bunch of willfully ignorant, bigoted scumbags?

[smirkymonkey]

59. 1000

[liquid diamond]

87. Thank you

[randr]

56. I live in rural America

I believe the quality of life is dependent on how far from an Interstate Highway one lives.
In spite of the Republican hold on all things political we are a thriving community of progressives.
We have integrated alternative schools into the public school system, have an internationally recognized community radio station thanks to our high speed internet services, continue to enjoy booming organic farming and food business growth, live in close proximity to awesome skiing, rafting, desert biking, and camping experiences, breath clean fresh air and drink mountain spring water, have a year round connection to music festivals and performances, enjoy local wines and brews, can afford a mortgage, and the daily enjoyment of actually stopping to talk with each other on the streets when we meet.
Thriving progressive communities exist throughout our nation that are living independent of the modern rat race we are sold as the American experience.
I would also say that my home town is in Colorado which would explain why we have a jump on the happy thingy.

[WhiteTara]

57. I live in blood red Arkansas and I hate to tell you

that they are just as bigoted and politically ignorant and angry as they are portrayed. Often stunned by the results of their idiocy, but resolute in their ways.

[roamer65]

66. Yes, they are.

Every ounce of what you say.

[Different Drummer]

85. Sounds like Georgia, where I live. n/t

[Cosmocat]

60. Sorry the angry white vote rang the bell

I work a semi rural precinct.

The most voters we ever had was 650 for bho Romney.

I knew Hillary was in trouble at 10 am because we had more voters at that point than any election other than 12.

We ended up w over 900 voters, trump got well over 500, hill a little over 300. This was a much great greater margin than Romney had over bho in our precinct.

We hand count our ballots and the count squared w what was tabulated.

Sorry, but they arent "stupid" per se, but they vote culture every time.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

62. I have no respect for anyone who voted for a white supremacist

Regardless of where they live

[WhiteTara]

68. Me either. In fact before I do business with anyone around here

I ask if they are repukes. If they say yes, I tell them I won't work with them and why. I've had a few moments of pleasure in the past couple of weeks by telling Trumpers exactly why I won't deal with them...also the really deep hearted racists who didn't even vote. Those people I shame by telling them they are bad citizens and good bye.

[smirkymonkey]

64. I wouldn't say so much dumb as I would say ignorant.

I grew up in a very small town outside a small city in Upstate NY. However most people I grew up with were fairly well educated and open to different ways of life. For instance we had a lot of foreign exchange students in our little town which exposed us to different cultures.

Once I graduated from college I have only lived in large coastal, liberal cities. I remember going on a business trip to Tennessee, just outside Knoxville. The people I was visiting took me out to lunch and in the middle of lunch one person asked me what kind of last name I had (it has a vowel at the end of it). I told them it was Italian and even thought I look about as Nordic as one can get, they continued to grill me w/ questions like "What kind of holidays do you celebrate?", etc. It was clear they were very uncomfortable with me, even though I looked just as "American", if not more so, than they did. I think they assumed I was Catholic, which I wasn't - I'm only 1/2 Italian and English and Dutch on the other side - but still, the fact that I had an Italian last name condemned me in their eyes.

I was just stunned with that kind of ignorance. I have also had Jewish and Latin friends report similar experiences in the south and midwest. They are just so insular and unexposed to anyone who is outside of their racial, religious, political group. They are not interested in getting to know us, they are just threatened and afraid of us. Why should we try to understand them when they are so unwilling to understand us? I never would have judged them as a group until I found out how prejudiced they were.

[TheKentuckian]

90. Because if for no other reason the country can't be governed with political control of

five or six coastal states.

[smirkymonkey]

96. Then maybe there is a reason we should secede.

I cannot understand that kind of bigotry, nor will I ever.

[tenderfoot]

71. No. Rural people are stuck in their ways and uninterested in changing.

eom

[sarisataka]

72. It's not disrespect

It's pity.

Once we have educated these unsophisticated, backwards ass rednecks they will see we have always had their best interest in our hearts.
They will forever support our candidates out of gratitude for raising them from their cesspool of ignorance, giving them true modern civilization and teaching them tolerance.

[get the red out]

81. The truth isn't pretty

I guess that's disrespect.

[MFM008]

84. ANYONE who voted for the maggot

Is a moron.
Millions of cowardly sniveling morons.

[FarCenter]

88. Rural areas send the cities energy supplies, food, fiber, and construction materials

Cities turn it into air pollution, sewage, trash, and rubble and give it back to the rural areas.

How smart is that?

[MineralMan]

97. We don't so much disrespect them as ignore them.

We don't know where our food comes from or how it gets to our supermarkets. We don't think about people who live in rural areas very much at all. In fact, we often forget they exist.

That's a mistake.

[NobodyHere]

98. In short

YES

Yet we think insulting them is the way to get them to vote with us.

[lindysalsagal]

99. Yes, but for their refusal to think.

Innate intelligence aside, fear, hate, and ignorance are all you need to make bad short-term decisions. This election was not for anything: it was an emotional, irrational slap at a big world that they no longer understand.

The vote was against the regular political structure, not for anything.

When you can no longer make a decent wage without a college degree, resentments will arise. But it takes long-term planning to realize fRump will cause you long-term harm.

That's what's lacking. Real-life implications in a very complex world.

Repubs are voters who want life's answers to fit on a bumper sticker, and not ask them to understand much. Voila: fRump.

[GreenEyedLefty]

104. Yes, we do. I have an example.

I grew up in the Flint, Michigan area, in a small rural suburb. I worked for a time for Borders Books, in their headquarters in Ann Arbor.

When the Flint store was built it routinely led the chain in same store sales. The company execs couldn't believe it. I heard many jokes and comments about how surprised they were at the number of readers in the Flint area. I'll tell ya, that pissed me right off. It's comments like that, that turn people away from liberalism. People in rural areas might not have college degrees (and more actually have them than you might think) but they do have brains and the ability to think critically. It's time we start talking *to* people and not about them.

I see elitism here all the time. Underestimating, undervaluing and marginalizing rural people, and if they happen to be from the south, it's a double whammy. It really sucks.

[apcalc]

105. No, we do not.

We try to help them, but they refuse.

Most watch Fox news, believe the wingnuts will make them safe.

You can lead a horse to water....

[Hoyt]

108. So they struck back by voting for Trump. Sorry, but that is dumb. I think they did vote

overwhelmingly for Trump. I've spent a lot of my life working and visiting rural areas. I'm sorry, there are a lot of ignorant racists there, among some good people. But, there are a lot in the cities too where I live.

[Iggo]

111. As I do with everyone else, I respect them as much as they respect me.

[LWolf]

118. Yes.

As a rural voter, I've recognized this for decades. If "we" is the Democratic Party or left-of-neoliberal Democrats, anyway.

It has been general conventional "wisdom" that all rural people are white rednecks, which is simply not the case. And that solutions for large population areas can be reasonably applied to rural communities, and if you saw the difference, you must be one of those white rednecks.

So yes; mainstream Democrats have disrespected rural America, including rural American Democrats, for a very long time.

I don't know about hacking the rural vote, or about rural votes coming in later; I don't really know what rural polling places are like, if there are enough, or if there are the same long lines and complications associated with suburban and urban polling places. My state votes by mail. Everybody gets their ballot way ahead of time and can mail it in or drop it off without lines.

I know that my region came in for Trump; the same region that voted for Obama in '08, recognizing that change was needed. These people still wanted change. Not only was HRC NOT a change candidate, but, for a variety of reasons, she is the least popular living Democrat in my region. Over and over people told me, "Man, I don't want Trump as president, but I CAN'T vote for her." Not a surprise, but something the party establishment didn't want to acknowledge or address; still won't acknowledge or address.

Clinton won the whole state despite the rural areas pretty much unanimously supporting Trump, because the biggest populations are not rural. That's probably why the Democrats have been comfortable ignoring rural areas; they don't have enough votes to beat the urban areas unless it's a very close race, and here in the PNW, it wasn't close, at least where Trump was concerned.