,
13 tweets,
6 min read
Read on Twitter
For 10 years I’ve worked on progressive policies like immigration reform while living in rural or red states. Below is a thread to try and help progressives avoid repeating the same mistakes we’ve made in the past especially when it comes to the #electability argument.
Obviously the Democratic brand is a liability in rural communities. @RuralOrganizing 2018 midterm polling showed that 68% of rural Americans consider themselves to be conservative or moderate. But that's only half of the picture. ruralorganizing.org/polling-brief-…
Democrats tend to engage rural voters in one of two ways. They either outright ignore them or try to sound more like Republicans. This cycle, many DC consultants are pushing the latter which is a big mistake. thehill.com/opinion/campai…
When politicians run in rural America as a Democrat with Republican policies, they lose voters on both fronts because rural voters self ID to the right but lean left on key policies. For example, a majority of rural Americans support medicare for all. dailyyonder.com/speak-piece-wi…
During the 2018 election cycle, the Democratic platform consistently outperformed Democratic candidates in red rural states. Just look at the progressive ballot measures passed across the country in 2018 in places like Missouri, Idaho, Nebraska, and Utah. thehill.com/opinion/campai…
According to the @RuralOrganizing 2018 poll, 55% of rural Americans don’t think Democrats are fighting for their community. But 94% think “the rural and small-town way of life is worth fighting for.” These are the top messages from the poll. ruralorganizing.org/polling-brief-… 
I’ve asked hundreds of rural folks what elected leaders need to do to fight for rural America, and they consistently outline three basic priorities: increase rural wages, decrease daily expenses and fight for the rural way of life. ruralorganizing.org/blog/our-agend…
We can raise rural wages by making it easier to start or run small farms and businesses and breaking up agricultural monopolies that suppress wages and take rural agricultural revenues out of the community. ruralorganizing.org/blog/our-agend…
We can lower daily expenses by reducing the cost of health, child and elderly care, while expanding access to affordable housing and increasing investments in transportation and digital connectivity. ruralorganizing.org/blog/our-agend…
And we can invest in the rural way of life by protecting and growing vital services like grocery stores, post offices, pharmacies and clinics if we prioritize rural development over corporate extractive agriculture subsidies. ruralorganizing.org/blog/our-agend…
Also, candidates must call out Trump’s “divide and distract” strategy. 75% of rural American’s in the @RuralOrganizing poll agreed that politicians scapegoat immigrants and people of color to distract us from the real sources of our problems. ruralorganizing.org/polling-brief-…
Candidates must also remember that rural ≠ white. "Roughly one-fifth of rural residents in this country are people of color." vox.com/conversations/…
So who is #electable in rural America? A candidate who fights for the rural way of life, rejects big money in politics, call out racist, sexist, & homophobic politics of division, expands Medicare, & favors small, local businesses over major corporations. ruralorganizing.org/polling-brief-…
