Well, this isn’t exactly a new story. The bleeding has been occurring for years, and Democrats have ignored it. It reached critical levels under Obama, where state party apparatuses truly withered away and died. Hillary Clinton pledged to fix that in 2016 but she lost the election. In the age-old debate about the allocation of outreach resources, the Left could have done what they should have which is double-down on rural white working-class voters or go all-in on the urban-based elites. The Democrats decided to do the latter. Four years later, Democrats saw their hopes of a huge House majority die thanks to their failure to reach out to people who aren’t unhinged ‘woke’ progressives from the cities. Trump lost, but Republicans made big gains in the House—whittling down the Democratic majority to just four seats.
Now, the level of hatred for Democrats has reached biblical levels. In rural America, pro-Joe Biden stickers are hidden. Democrats feel like they’re “on the run.” And some party members feel that total annihilation could be upon them soon if the party doesn’t change their rhetoric about people who aren’t like them (via Associated Press):
The party’s brand is so toxic in the small towns 100 miles northeast of Pittsburgh that some liberals have removed bumper stickers and yard signs and refuse to acknowledge publicly their party affiliation. These Democrats are used to being outnumbered by the local Republican majority, but as their numbers continue to dwindle, those who remain are feeling increasingly isolated and unwelcome in their own communities.
“The hatred for Democrats is just unbelievable,” said Tim Holohan, an accountant based in rural McKean County who recently encouraged his daughter to get rid of a pro-Joe Biden bumper sticker. “I feel like we’re on the run.”
The climate across rural Pennsylvania is symptomatic of a larger political problem threatening the Democratic Party heading into the November elections. Beyond losing votes in virtually every election since 2008, Democrats have been effectively ostracized from the overwhelmingly white parts of rural America, leaving party leaders with few options to reverse a cultural trend that is redefining the political landscape.
[…]
Barack Obama won 875 counties nationwide in his overwhelming 2008 victory. Twelve years later, Biden won only 527. The vast majority of those losses — 260 of the 348 counties — took place in rural counties, according to data compiled by The Associated Press.
The worst losses were concentrated in largely white areas across the Midwest: 21 rural counties in Michigan flipped from Obama in 2008 to Trump in 2020; Democrats lost 28 rural counties in Minnesota, 32 in Wisconsin and a whopping 45 in Iowa. At the same time, recent Republican voter registration gains in swing states such as Florida and North Carolina were fueled disproportionately by rural voters.
Biden overcame rural losses to beat Trump in 2020 because of gains in more populous Democratic counties. Perhaps because of his victory, some Democratic officials worry that party leaders do not appreciate the severity of the threat.
Democratic Rep. Jim Cooper of Tennessee, who recently announced he would not seek reelection to Congress this fall, warns that the party is facing extinction in small-town America.
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Again, will Democrats try and right the ship. They’ve had years to do so, and they haven’t done it. They can’t do it, frankly. The money and the activist pool are all centered around the ‘woke’ slice of the Democratic base. That also poses another problem for the Left. White progressives are starting to take over the messaging as they fill the coffers at the expense of black and other nonwhite voters who have been loyal party voters for decades. Money talks. Also, nonwhite voters are not as intense when it comes to…almost every issue. On racial resentment issues especially, nonwhite voters are very different from their white progressive allies in the sense that they know and acknowledge progress. Sure, more work needs to be done, but white ‘woke’ liberals only see Apartheid South Africa in everything. Disagreement is not accepted. It’s considered enabling evil. How do you craft a successful messaging with that mindset? You can’t.
When you hate people, don’t be shocked if they redirect that hate back at you. And please, let’s not cry about these poor rural Democrats living in fear. They should since their agenda aims to destroy the country, but liberals in the cities would happily burn what few conservatives reside in their dominion so it cuts both ways.
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