Pirate's Cove

This happens after virtually every election. The losers wonder why they lost, and they often do not come up with the proper reasons nor proposed actions. Trump thumped Hillary, and Democrats have been blowing it at the federal, state, and local levels. Nancy Pelosi and her cadre of old, mostly white coastal liberal elites refuse to acknowledge the reasons they lost, and are mostly making excuses. Russian influence seems to be their favorite, though, it’s highly doubtful that the people in the areas Democrats refer to as “flyover country”, which is an ugly term the way they use it (they also go with Jesusland and Dumbfuckistan), gave a damn about the Russians.

The Washington Post’s Dan Balz provides a great breakdown of the numbers in those Northern working class, suburban and rural areas that broke for Trump, worth the read, before diving into a discussion of what Dems need to do

Democrats search for a path back into rural America’s good graces

….

Democrats have sometimes assumed that they don’t need to do much to appeal to voters in these communities, assuming that they represent a shrinking portion of the electorate. Today they are wondering how they can appeal to them more effectively.

To some degree, yes. But, mostly because Democrats sneer at these people. They dismiss them. They call them names. But, they attended a symposium featuring Katherine Cramer, who spent a lot of time traveling throughout Wisconsin, and especially the small town areas, to write a book about how Scott Walker rose to power.

Not surprisingly, Cramer has been in high demand as journalists and others seek to better understand Trump’s success in appealing to voters in these parts of the country. During her presentation Friday, she was asked what Democrats could do to reach these voters. As the questioner put it: What could the Democrats do to speak to these voters more directly?

“I would say it’s not speaking to people,” she said. If Democrats want to do better with these voters, she said, it would require spending time with them and asking them what’s on their minds and then listening to their answers. Only then can they try to deliver a message. “There’s so much respect that has to be conveyed to people before they start listening to the message,” Cramer added.

Hillary blew off talking to these people. She preferred to talk to big money donors, mostly. Give Obama credit, he’s a great campaigner, and he traveled everywhere, talking to people not just in the big cities, but small communities as well. In between the big money fundraisers. Democrats mostly do not seem to care to listen. They despise these rural folks.

When another person asked why some people seem to vote against their own interests, Cramer again turned the question around. “I’m not claiming people are voting against their own interest,” she said. “We have to be careful about how we define what people’s interests are. . . . The trick is to think about what policies can you offer that people in those positions perceive as in their own interest.”

That’s a bigger smackdown from Cramer than it seems. Democrats think they Know Better than everyone else, so, if you aren’t voting Dem, well, you’re stupid and voting against you’re own interests. Dems do not listen, they lecture. They trot out all their Social Justice insanity, and economic policies that empower Government and hurt the small people and businesses. They want to increase taxes and the cost of living through various polices, such as their ‘climate change’ schtick. They want to make sure the transgenders can go into bathrooms, locker rooms, and showers with people’s daughters. They want to force nationalized healthcare on people. Think the folks in rurual/suburban America think those policies and beliefs are in their best interest?

For the Democrats, it’s a bigger challenge of trying to gain back a share of those voters, in part because they represented the margin of defeat in 2016. The party historically has stood for working people but has seen that connection eroded, if not shattered. As Cramer suggested, there will be no quick fixes for the Democrats on that question.

The Dems are the party of the coastal elites. The areas where the party big wigs make oodles of money while everyone else seems to suffer in economic despair and crime. Areas where they attempt to limit Constitutional Rights. And who have nothing but derision for anyone who doesn’t believe exactly the same. A few Democrats have stood up for change, such as Joe Manchin and Tim Ryan, but, the majority back the Party of Pelosi and Chuck Schumer.

Crossed at Right Wing News.

Read: Democrats Are Wondering How They Win Back Rural America »