Democratic officials from the rural Heartland tell Washington 'You're Killing Us' - Entrepreneur Generations

Goodin (Politico photo by Patrick Brown)

 The Democratic party has a rural problem--and it knows it. Though the Dems have seen an uptick in votes in recent off-year and special elections, "the number of Democrats holding office across the nation is at its lowest point since the 1920s and the decline has been especially severe in rural America." That's from U.S. Rep. Cheri Bustos, who was re-elected in her blue-collar northwestern Illinois district by a 20-point landslide last November.

Bustos knew Democrats needed to gain ground in rural areas, so she commissioned a report to find out what rural Democratic politicians in the Heartland states had to say. The report, Hope from the Heartland: How Democrats Can Better Serve the Midwest by Bringing Rural, Working Class Wisdom to Washington, was just released, and will be distributed to local and regional party leaders and Democratic leaders on Capitol Hill. It's based on interviews with 72 current or former local Democratic officials from mostly rural areas of the Heartland states: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio and Wisconsin.

The report features advice from people like Indiana State Representative Terry Goodin, a pro-gun, anti-abortion Pentecostal cattle farmer who is the last Democrat in the state to represent an entirely rural area. Goodin is a 17-year veteran of the state legislature, even though his district went heavily for Trump in 2016. But many Trump voters also voted for Goodin, partially because of his pragmatic relatability, Michael Kruse reports for Politico.

In the report, "the quotes from the 72 rural Democrats Johnson interviewed read like a pent-up primal scream. And Terry Goodin’s comments pop out in particular," Kruse reports. "In the report, he says the Democratic Party is 'lazy,' 'out of touch with mainstream America,' relying on 'too much identity politics' where 'winners and losers are picked by their labels.' The Democrats in his district, he laments, 'feel abandoned.'"

His success, Goodin told Kruse, comes from his ability to focus on the things he agrees with his constituents about instead of writing off people who disagree with him about a few things. "In a nutshell, this is the advice of Bustos’ report: Widen the definition of Democrat." Kruse reports.

"If we call ourselves a big tent party," Bustos said, "then we should act like it."

from The Rural Blog http://ift.tt/2FviVNj Democratic officials from the rural Heartland tell Washington 'You're Killing Us' - Entrepreneur Generations

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