I have a very close friend who lives in Norman Oklahoma. He grew up in a deeply religious house, but managed not to have the same deep seeded hate of others growing up. He gave up his belief before I met him, and like me, although he grew up in the rural part of the country and I grew up in the suburbs of DC, neither of us understood or accepted the bigotry and xenophobia that surrounded us.
When I met him online in 02 he was more of an economic libertarian but had been a social liberal prior to meeting him. This election and our loss makes me reflect on lots of things he has said about his own left, that his is part of. Yes all states, even deeply red states have sane empathetic economically liberal "rednecks" like him. John is the kindest person I know with the thickest accent a redneck could have, and says "tators' instead of potatos.
I know what he will say to me about OUR loss as liberals, he will tell me when I talk to him where we failed, and the more I think about it the more I think he is right. WE WE WE allowed Trump to win by allowing the right to divide poor rural whites against poor urban blacks, whom both have the same economic problems. WE allowed them to divide the economic middle class as well. Where we failed as democrats, and ALL STATES have democrats, where we failed is we took for granted just like GORE in 2000, that all it would take are big cities and suburbs and soccer moms and students.
WE HAVE to as democrats stop allowing the right to divide us and we have to have a 50 state strategy in EVERY COUNTY. No, I don't mean short term assumption that we can do that overnight, but we have to stop assuming that we cannot appeal to outside our assumed support. We lost because we assumed we had more of the rust belt than we actually did.
Blacks and whites of urban and rural areas are in the same boat, the middle class of our country is in the same boat. DEMOCRATS, let this be our last GORE, let this be our last Hillary, let this be our last fumble politically. NOW STARTS TODAY!
When I met him online in 02 he was more of an economic libertarian but had been a social liberal prior to meeting him. This election and our loss makes me reflect on lots of things he has said about his own left, that his is part of. Yes all states, even deeply red states have sane empathetic economically liberal "rednecks" like him. John is the kindest person I know with the thickest accent a redneck could have, and says "tators' instead of potatos.
I know what he will say to me about OUR loss as liberals, he will tell me when I talk to him where we failed, and the more I think about it the more I think he is right. WE WE WE allowed Trump to win by allowing the right to divide poor rural whites against poor urban blacks, whom both have the same economic problems. WE allowed them to divide the economic middle class as well. Where we failed as democrats, and ALL STATES have democrats, where we failed is we took for granted just like GORE in 2000, that all it would take are big cities and suburbs and soccer moms and students.
WE HAVE to as democrats stop allowing the right to divide us and we have to have a 50 state strategy in EVERY COUNTY. No, I don't mean short term assumption that we can do that overnight, but we have to stop assuming that we cannot appeal to outside our assumed support. We lost because we assumed we had more of the rust belt than we actually did.
Blacks and whites of urban and rural areas are in the same boat, the middle class of our country is in the same boat. DEMOCRATS, let this be our last GORE, let this be our last Hillary, let this be our last fumble politically. NOW STARTS TODAY!
