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progressoid

(50,713 posts)
Mon Oct 16, 2017, 05:22 PM Oct 2017

Tom Vilsack, Democratic leaders plead for the party to reconnect with rural voters

Democrats must win back the trust of rural America if they want to win elections in Iowa and nationwide, party leaders and operatives said Friday at a forum aimed at pushing the party in a “radically pragmatic” direction for 2018 and beyond.

...

“We need to be in those small towns, creating those conversations in the coffee shop, pushing back on those folks who are anti-government,” former Iowa Gov. and U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack said. “We can’t just organize in Ward 1 in Des Moines, we have to go to Ward 1 in Mount Pleasant.”

Kathleen Sebelius, who, like Vilsack was a Midwestern governor who joined the Obama White House as a cabinet secretary, echoed that argument in a taping later on Friday of Iowa Public Television’s “Iowa Press.”

“I’m a Democrat in a red state and I know that showing up matters,” said Sebelius, who served as Kansas governor from 2003 to 2009. “I campaigned in all 105 counties, I was on the statewide ballot four times, and I was successful four times. You can’t cede territory.”

...

“This doesn’t mean becoming a Republican-lite,” Anzalone said. “It’s not about that. It’s about having a conversation with these voters to make them understand that we don’t think they’re idiots.

“Until we become more sensitive on these issues, they’ll never hear our economic message, they’ll never hear our health message, they’ll never hear our education message. They’ll never hear the things that we do well for them.”

more...http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/2017/10/13/tom-vilsack-democratic-leaders-plead-party-reconnect-rural-voters/762572001/
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Tom Vilsack, Democratic leaders plead for the party to reconnect with rural voters (Original Post) progressoid Oct 2017 OP
And workers. iemitsu Oct 2017 #1
We can start by pointing out how the small federally supported critical access hospitals are closing elehhhhna Oct 2017 #2
Hillary did plenty of rural and small town events (including small town Iowa) LisaM Oct 2017 #3
 

elehhhhna

(32,076 posts)
2. We can start by pointing out how the small federally supported critical access hospitals are closing
Mon Oct 16, 2017, 05:28 PM
Oct 2017

And go from there. Just pointing out the obvious would be a start . Obamacare is dead and so is the funding for all their little local hospitals and clinics. Since the hospitals and school districts are the largest employers in all these little oftentimes crappy towns, these little towns are about to really really get worse fast.

We can start by telling him that. Okay, we should've been screaming this earlier. Oh well. DNC is blowing it imo.

LisaM

(28,529 posts)
3. Hillary did plenty of rural and small town events (including small town Iowa)
Mon Oct 16, 2017, 05:59 PM
Oct 2017

The reception wasn't always positive (her ability to soldier on through that amazes me), and the media coverage often wasn't there or wasn't very positive either (how often do you remember media being gathered around to see Hillary in diners or at hospitals?)

I think it's wrong to say that she didn't - or wouldn't - campaign in small towns, or that other Democrats haven't - and won't - either. But it's also helpful if the media and the people in the small towns and rural areas give Democrats a fair shake when they do come through.

Hillary kicks off campaign in Iowa small towns

http://www.nationalmemo.com/in-small-town-iowa-a-mixed-reception-as-hillary-kicks-off/

https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/hillary-clinton-makes-first-campaign-stop-in-small-town-america-755023


Hillary visits small school in Iowa (so did O’Malley)
http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2015/12/22/small-town-iowa-students-get-clinton-to-visit-their-school/

Hillary’s plan for investment in rural America
http://time.com/4011190/hillary-clinton-rural-america/


Clinton makes 11 stops in Kentucky (including Paducah and Fort Mitchell)
http://www.cnn.com/2016/05/16/politics/hillary-clinton-bernie-sanders-kentucky/index.html


Clinton campaigns in coal country in Williamson, West Virginia (and was excoriated for being truthful)
https://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2016/05/02/hillary-clinton-hears-wrath-of-coal-supporters-in-west-virginia/

Hillary campaigns at North Carolina state fair
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/06/clinton-vs-trump-in-north-carolina/488336/





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