"I can't say this enough times- we have to get back to competing in every county in VA and stop ..."

[mahatmakanejeeves]

David Weigel Retweeted

I can’t say this enough times- we have to get back to competing in every county in VA and stop assuming there is a floor we can’t go below in rural areas.

Link to tweet

The very tippety-tip of southwest Virginia is closer to the capitals of something like six other states than it is to Richmond. I've never been to Cumberland Gap. It's too far away.

[bearsfootball516]

1. It's incredible how good the GOP is at squeezing every drop out of the rural vote.

Every time you think there can't POSSIBLY be more rural GOP vote out there...they find it.

[Claustrum]

2. Every time I suggested to form a message for rural America,

I am met with they are too racist and they too stupid and they are unreachable. And this is the result of that. All said might be true but we didn’t even pretend to care about them, like at all.

[appalachiablue]

8. Seen it and hate it. K/R

[underpants]

3. Richmond to Bristol 5 hours. Richmond to NYC 5ish hours

I don’t know that Terry did anything past Roanoke. You have to put in the time just to blunt the blow.

[Best_man23]

4. I commented about messaging and GOTV in another thread

The messaging issue was identified by Abigail Spanberger after last year's Congressional losses. The Republicants hammered home the false CRT and "Goverment's going to tell you what your kids will learn" messages, while much of the Democratic messaging was attempts to counter the false narrative. State and National Democratic Parties need to start addressing how they deliver messaging to voters, because the R's use of racist and false messaging is going to continue until an effective counter message is found or a majority of voters finally figure out the policies enacted as a result of voting Republicant run counter to their interests.

The other issue is the GOTV. Trumpkin was able to get within 300K or so of the number of votes tRump got last year. McAuliff's numbers trailed Biden's vote tally by nearly 600K. You can't compare the actual numbers to 2017 as many more voters participated this time (a good thing). Your message is correct, Democrats need to compete everywhere, and more important, they need to figure out how to energize the 4-year Democratic voter who only goes to the polls for Presidential elections.

[Jilly_in_VA]

5. Yeah really

For instance, if there is a Democratic candidate in my district, I hardly ever know it. I live in a weirdly gerrymandered state district that is actually a teeny part of Page County which is over the mountain and which we have nothing in common with whatsoever. My congressional district is VA-06 which runs all the way from the Maryland border all the way down past Roanoke and probably hasn't elected a Democrat since the "Southern Strategy" or maybe before. Some years we haven't even HAD a Democratic candidate! Onvce I had to vote for a "Liberal Whig", FFS---just because he wasn't Bob Goodlatte. Democrats don't come to my little twin towns of Broadway/Timberville, but our congresscritter Ben Cline, that spineless weasel, he does! Of course, he knows he's got the vote sewed up.... But if we had a candidate like Beto, who went EVERYWHERE and met EVERYBODY....don't you think that might make a difference?

[appalachiablue]

6. The attitude that Dems don't need to bother

with 'irrelevant' and 'uneducated' rural populations - we're above it - has been around for years. And we get our a*s handed to us for it. And what about the 50 state strategy..

[msongs]

7. lets give some of those counties to west virginia nt

[appalachiablue]

9. Better think on that- the WV/VA history. I'm from both,

also Pa., Ohio, Md. heritage.