I’m not a strategist, but I have been involved in GOP-dominated state politics for about a decade now. We can’t squeeze another blue vote out of Kansas City or St. Louis or Springfield. Democrats need to go into rural spaces and start organizing Democrats in those spaces.
The dems just need to get more racist!
I feel the same way about New Mexico. Our red areas are totally ignored by Democrats.
Here's how: Tax. Wealth. First. Everything else will follow. Spread the word.
My family has a lot of farmers in rural Tennessee they are not fans of the CF - they remember the first term - they don’t actively vote or talk about it.
Urban voters are already getting squeezed within an inch of their lives by landlords. They don't need more squeezing. They need policy that actually benefits them. That's how Democrats can win more votes there. They should also be addressing the material needs of rural voters. It's not either/or.
You can show up in the suburbs of these metro areas though where you still find a lot of red….
Absolutely
We are out here (in oklahoma) feeding our cows, hating the #pedotaco regime.
Agree! I am very interested in developing strategies for doing just this. I believe it starts with real conversations to find common ground. Maybe focus groups. Would like to use resources available to me like IndvisibleSTL.org to do these kind of events. Let me know!
It needs to be done
We need Democrats to run. More than half the ballot is Republicans running unopposed.
Largely in part because national Democrat organizations have focused on urban areas where they're certain to win. This is investing completely upside down! You invest in areas where the party is weak. Spending in areas you're certain to win is pissing $ away, not investing!
There are more people within 8 miles of my house than there are in the 50 smallest Missouri counties combined. Democratic organizations invest in urban areas because that's where the people are. The only difference between Missouri and blue states is that our urban turnout actually sucks.
The problem is that voters in rural areas are actually worth more than urban areas. Look at Wyoming, with a population of about 600,000 people. Their Senators are as powerful in Congress as those of California with a population of approximately 40,000,000. So, yeah, we need to do better!
We can't just write off rural voters because "urban areas are where the people are." Cynthia Lummis (R, WY), is up for re-election in 2026. Democrats aren't even *trying* to unseat her. At the moment, her only opponent is Jimmy Skovgard, who is also a Republican.
We can write off shithole states like Wyoming because we have limited resources and setting said resources on fire trying to find the six persuadable Dem voters who live among the subhuman redneck hordes of Wyoming so that Lummis wins by 65 and not 70 is insane.
Are you shitting me? That's precisely the attitude that's left rural voters with no choice but to sit out elections, or vote for Republicans. We raised a billion dollars to not elect Harris, and we're getting our asses kicked by the administration of #Felon47 because we neglected down-ballot races
and handed tRump a compliant House. A strategic investment in rural voters can pay huge dividends. Remember that it was only 25 years ago that most rural voters were Democrats. Democrats focus on cities paid huge dividends in urban areas, but cost them big in rural areas.
Yeah, I’m sure we would have won the House if we had taken money we spent getting Derek Tran and Adam Gray above water on a failed attempt at flipping WY-AL or whatever.
I'm not talking about the three months leading up to an election. I'm talking about making sustained, multi-cycle efforts to build up Democrats in rural areas. It's been done before, and it can be done again.
I don’t know about Wyoming but in Mississippi, 747,744 voted for Trump. 904,453 didn’t vote. The majority isn’t in the cult but Republicans control the media. If you give people hope for a better life and drown out the lies and derision from the Epstein party, it wouldn’t be that hard to flip.
And Ironically, nearly 40% of voters in Mississippi are Black. When Democrats make their case for why they're policies are better than those of the Republican Party, Black voters choose Democrats. We *have* to do better getting the message to indifferent and low-propensity voters in rural areas!
Sorry, "their policies". I really cannot type for shit today!
Suburban areas are where attainable voters are at. You're going to flip more there by investing than the handful of rural voters that aren't already full on MAGAs
Flipping suburban voters isn't going to solve anything long term. Rural voters are seeing their hospitals closed, and federal funding cut. Most won't turn against #Felon47, but they can be flipped against Republican candidates. #Felon47 isn't on the ballot again.
Very few will vote anything other than R and those who will leave. Suburbs are growth areas that are getting more diverse while small towns are getting smaller or maintaining their populations at best. The former is the smarter investment
Rural areas losing their population is even more reason to work for those votes as their Senators have the same power from fewer voters.
The less informed tend to vote Republican. We need to make them all highly informed.
You couldn't have picked a worse example. Wyoming may be the most heavily urbanized state in the country. 30% of the entire state's population lives in Cheyanne. 80% of the population lives in the 9 largest cities. The rural population of Wyoming is miniscule.
Are you kidding me? Even the cities in WY are rural by most measures. Cheyenne is 84 square kilometers and has a population of 65k. That's barely a town! San Jose, CA has a million people in about 460 square kilometers.
Do a little math and Cheyenne has about 800 people per square kilometer, while San Jose has about 2,200 people per square kilometer.
Progressive policy goals poll very well in rural areas. Tax the rich to pay for healthcare and education? That's not a hard sell.
🎯
Georgia is so ripe for the picking if Dems would just get real about it, do the work, run quality candidates & support them
Yeah, but, then they'd have to get real about it and do the work.
Right.. Democratic party leadership types in Georgia act like the party is some kind of exclusive country club that needs to keep the riff raff out
Georgia has 2 Dem Senators.
And we love them! So let's flush out the likes of MTG & the rest!
Nothing a good gerrymandering can’t fix 😁
So...I hear you whine and fuss but don't see your actions...Are any of you guys doing the work?! Stop denigrating and start motivating. The Bernie..Bernie..Bernie..stich is getting Old..Old...Old.
We need sane AM radio is rural areas. Derp artistry is unchecked in rural areas because Clearchannel, Salem, and iHeartMedia bought up all the rural stations to spew fascist talk radio for decades.
No, but they can in democratic states the way that Republicans gained control of states and the US house was through gerrymandering. It started under new Gingrich, where Republicans gerrymandered 50 seats to gain control of the US house.
Think this is true in most states. Dems need to do some outreach in all rural areas
DSA!
I live in a very small town in Nebraska. Politicians from either party have no idea how to talk to us. They think we're all the stereotypical small towner. And we're not.
I don't go to church. I have a low opinion of farm owners. And I do not think they're the backbone of the economy out here. I'd rather drive wood screws into my kneecaps than go fishing. I don't drive a truck. I wouldn't be caught dead in a cowboy hat. I can't stand country music.
I work in healthcare, as do a lot of people out here. I read. I play video games and hang out online. I worry about climate change. I want to drive on decent roads that don't chew up a set of tires every year. I care about the homeless. Bottom line ... we're really not different than anyone else.
I don’t understand the Democratic Party. It almost feels like they are complicit.
It it’s not *like* they are complicit. They’re beholden to the same donors and *are* complicit.
so the super delegates or electoral college can take it away later lol@u
We can very much squeeze a lot more blue votes in cities
National democratic party has orphaned all but the blue states. There are areas in red states like mine that could be flipped, but the DNC gives no attention.
1/2. In hindsight, I should’ve perhaps kept some Republicans in my life in hopes of convincing them to stop voting against their own interests however exhausting it is… I just always felt it came down to their lack of empathy and something I could not change..idk, simply put, it’s very disheartening
2/2. Kudos to those hanging in there trying to convince folks🙏🏾💙 Much gratitude, Jess💙
Rural areas are the least tech savvy and the easiest influenced. Should have thought of this many years ago.
But the Democratic Party so desperately wants to be tech savvy! Just look at how difficult it is for them to stand up to the big tech companies. Look at how much they spend each cycle on online advertising.
Solution??
Good question. My knee jerk response is that they should having regular conversations with Jess and people “on the ground” in these places who are having actual conversations. Also, as others have pointed out, recruiting candidates to run so there are not unopposed GOP in local races.
Probably work on the places that are losing hospitals for a start.
Yep. And those losing even more small businesses that are being impacted by tariffs. Tariffs might bring some manufacturing back eventually but in the meantime it will be a big impact to independent retail and grocery stores where they have managed to hang on.
Lots of town halls with good door prizes and snacks.
Instead of high-minded policy, go talk to them and speak their language.
@aoc.bsky.social and @sanders.senate.gov got 15k+ and 20k+ crowds on a "Fighting Oligarchy" tour in blood "red" states. I appreciate the good the Dem party *does* do, but there are VERY real, VERY justified reasons people feel like Dems only care about swing states and only 4 mo before an election.
But isn't 1 of the issues that rural America socializes around church activities & the 🌊 people need to stay hidden for fear of ostracisation? So they wouldn't attend 🌊 meetings or even be honest with doorknockers for fear of discovery?
I live in pretty red eastern Ky, and one of the things that I see is friends who are both evangelical Christian and liberal Democrats (some of who are also gay and trans) joining new storefront churches where they create open accepting community for themselves.
That sounds like a great way to dilute the power of the GOP-owned churches. If the secret 🌊-ers had another place to go, they'd be more inclined to walk away from preachers of un-christian dogma.
I myself am not a Christian, but a Jew, but I have lots of friends all over the country, all of whom are on liberal, some even pretty radical, who are very devout Christians, some who are Episcopal priests (male and female), others in denominations like United Church of Christ.
I think there's a growing # of liberal faithful of all denominations & creeds. If they can see & FEEL the impact of the deceitful conservatives, they may see the 🌊💡.
Point me in the right direction. I can make it to those places and I can talk rural, raised by farming, military Christians.
You would think that people in these cities still have families in rural parts of these states… and yes, politics and families can be contentious. But you have to find cracks in generational alliance to party and exploit. Make those progressive areas less like islands.
There are lots of independents in these areas and lots of people who don’t vote based on ideology when voting for a candidate. The abortion amendment passed but the same large number of women voted for the same people who tried to take away that right
It’s a systemic problem. There has always been two Americas: rural and urban. Democratic candidates seldom visit farming and ranching communities except when they want pie or a cowboy hat. When they do, their policies seldom help rural values and needs. No wonder rurals don’t trust government
Absolutely. Make their gerrymandering irrelevant.
Wait till you find out that rural America is racist and homophobic and intentionally ignorant and backwards lol
Your mission 😜
Why is Southeast Missouri so neglected by Democrats? If you talk to the people here you'll understand that they mostly want progressive policies, but then we see a ballot with Rs running uncontested.
100% this! Those of us who’ve lived much of our lives in big cities but hail from small towns and rural areas, see the disconnect when we return home to visit family and friends. Let’s bring our messaging to ALL OF THE PEOPLE. If you’re in a position to help your home state from afar, jump aboard.
Live in Boone County (mostly blue thank goodness), family lives in St. Charles and Warren County...a different world in those two counties. We don't have a lot of communication.
(this is me wondering if she's ever been in rural spaces)
Preach! Same in Georgia. Same in Alabama. And I bet it's the same throughout America. The thing that slays me is -- we (Democrats) have the best policies for rural America. I've seen us get the things needed in rural America and watched the GOP take the credit. Broadband, firehouses, jobs, etc.
Exactly
Infrastructure, high speed internet and rail access. The problem with Democrats as I see it is they think their accomplishments will speak for themselves. The GOP takes credit when they did nothing. Democrats need to blow their own horns BEFORE the GOP does!!!
Amen!
I think we missed a major opportunity to have every highway improvement and post office upgrade labeled Brought to You by the Libs
Dont sell yourself short...you are a thoughtful strategist with wit...
The red/blue divide, (the y axis), is what a system of corruption needs in order to control most of the people and allow the elite grifters to flourish, (the x axis). It will never change until most of the people start punching on the x axis...
Unfortunately they have mistaken “being transphobic shits” for organizing rural and suburban communities
To be fair, open bigotry is what the rurals want
Yeah, but they want the original flavor, not the imitator
They'll take whichever is on offer. These people are not gourmands.
Yeah but the original flavor (Republicans) are absolutely on offer.
Seth Moulton’s ideas don’t seem to be going anywhere with the Dems, but hey. That being said, you’re kidding yourself if you think the Dems wouldn’t have to go full Ship of Theseus when it comes to social issues to even be in the conversation in redneck country.
FTR that is absolutely a bad thing and one of the big reasons I’d hate to see Dems make a big push for rural America. A party that can win the mouth breathing subhumans that make up the US’s rural white population is a party I’d rather not vote for.
We need a way to shut down Fox News.
To be 100%, I live in KC & I'm from StL. There are still lots of votes to get out of the metros. There is a large section of the communities of color that don't show up because, as I've been told for 15 years now, "You show up a month before the election & then abandon us. I won't vote for liars."
Jefferson County would be an example.
Yeah, I don't want to be negative about expanding the map, but the number of non-voters in Jackson County alone greatly exceeds the entire rural population of the state. And the difference in density means it's VASTLY more efficient to talk to metro populations. Gotta go where the people are.
Right...54% of Jackson County Dems turned out in 2024. The MO Dem Party has been led by wet noodles for over a decade. Embrace the cities and stop acting like they a guaranteed vote. They are just as fed up as the rural areas.
Our turn out numbers, especially in off years, are abysmal in the metro. We've complained about it for over a decade. Rural gets lots of attention while cities are taken for granted (reference McCaskill's last run.) MO needs bold new leaders who will work in the metro and rural areas equally, IMHO.
Various Indivisibles in Alabama are doing the work! Athens, AL last Saturday.
![A screenshot of a Reddit forum: r/alabamabluedots and u/magiccitybhm Of an another reddit post on Reddit: Red Mountain Expressway in Birmingham r/Birmingham • u/Feeling-Serve9867 The post: “Anybody seen this one?? On the RME [Red Mountain Expressway]: A colorful billboard with images of Jeffrey Epstein and Donald Trump with the words: “‘WHAT'S THe BIG SECRET FeLLAS?’” The post received 2.6k upvotes](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:23qpnx3shcgi3dyfs6jakujc/bafkreieuwzoucy263mn7fog4olopmpajl2pekrshtcvssoxbgcp5dsqrd4@jpeg)
What’s so great about these refrigerators?