Reaching rural America (Bleeding Heartland)

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Reaching rural America

Wednesday, Dec 4 2019
Bruce Lear

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It seems they just want to close a sale and quickly move to a town with more votes and more stoplights. By small community I include tiny towns barely on the map to county seat towns, usually the largest community in the county.

Democrats need to learn from the autopsies of 2016 and 2018 so the party won’t replicate the same errors heading into next year. I understand this may feel like armchair quarterbacking, and people who bled for Democratic wins in the past elections will be defensive, but a clear picture of how the party lost will help it win in 2020.

The great news is some Democratic leaders have learned from the past. For example, J.D. Scholten, who came within 3 percent of knocking off Steve King in the fourth Congressional district last year, has begun his 2020 campaign by visiting towns without street signs. He is holding listening sessions in fire stations and VFW halls.

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I don’t believe, however, that this approach is some magic bullet so rural Iowans will flock to the Democrats if the message or the messenger changes. That’s not realistic. What may be possible is to win a bigger piece of market share in rural Iowa by listening to voters and tailoring the message consistent with Democratic values. How is that done?

First, the rural message should be clear and simple. It should rest on the four pillars that sustain small towns: access to affordable, quality health care; world-class public education; freedom to farm; and a thriving small business economy. If any one of the pillars falls, the others may tumble, and so it’s critical that any state or federal candidate needs to address all four. There are certainly other issues, but those four should build a sturdy platform in rural America.

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