Convo thought - Dems need to let rurals know they exist

Decent Dem convention at Potawatomi. Good to see people from across the state (and a few of my 5 readers!), and I was happy to see Ben Wikler be the new DPW Chair. I think he'll fit in well and is young enough to recognize that it is no time to play scared nor complacent.

There was a great seminar this morning from Isaac Wright, who is a white Baptist from small town Tennessee, and a staunch progressive/Dem consultant. He had great stuff on how Dems need to talk to rural voters (no surprise, but most are doing it wrong).

He had a number of intriguing slides, and this one especially grabbed me. It showed that when rurals say "Their way of life is under attack," they may have a point.

You wonder why these people are scared? It also identifies an opportunity for Dems IF they talk about the everyday problems and concerns this population has.

The rightful anger and worries can be turned onto the real culprits- right-wing oligarchs who have no problem wrecking rural communities through defunding of services and taking away the health care and Social Security that is especially needed in a low-resource area that has a disproportionate amount of older people.

Sure, some of these people are too far gone and/or mentally weak to listen. But it only takes a few to come back for Dems to win big,
and Wright showed Dems can win those votets if they HAVE A PRESENCE AND APPEAR TO LISTEN AND CARE ABOUT RURALS.

When that happens, it neutralizes GOP lies that try to deflect from the decline of many rural communities that has been perpetrated by the GOP legislators that have (mis)represented those areas for years. Which helps explain why Tammy Baldwin did as well as she did in rural Wisconsin in 2018. Tammy shows up and gives a crap about Wisconsinites no matter where they live, and that personal experience and relatability meant that Koched-up lies about her fell flat.