The rural Republican trend is over...

[YourLocalKiwiGay]

Oh god, this thread was started when I was 2 months old how oh how I wish you early 2000s users were right. If you look at the 2018 midterms even in races that swung to the Democrats the Republicans clung onto seats. A perfect example of the increasing divide is in Tennesee where Phil Bredesen although winning every county a decade or so ago from memory, I believe he only won 3 counties with an 11 point margin. in 2008 Obama won more counties with a larger margin against him. so with 15 years of Hindsight, I conclude that the rural republican trend will continue.

[Beet]

There was, indeed, a concerted effort to take back rural America among Dems that reached its peak in the mid-2000s. Howard Dean called for a "50-state strategy" and spent a bunch of time recruiting Blue Dogs and veterans like Heath Shuler, Patrick Murphy, Baron Hill, etc. RKBA (Right to Keep and Bear Arms) was a group on DKos, and Thomas Frank's "What's the Matter with Kansas?" was hip among political activists. To some extent you still see the strands of this today (the Ojeda hype). But for the most part this movement was a bust. What happened?

[Virginiá]

Most voters don't vote for candidates, they vote for parties. Trump is helping keep the electorate super polarized, although it was already growing more and more up to 2016.

There are no magic candidates for most rural seats. A few here and there might pull off something special, but the vast majority will vote for Republicans.

[Skye]

What's amazing is seeing Bandit claiming he doesn't care for the affluent suburbs and sees gaining grounds among rural voters as a "moral victory". LMAO how times change.

Oh god, this thread was started when I was 2 months old how oh how I wish you early 2000s users were right. If you look at the 2018 midterms even in races that swung to the Democrats the Republicans clung onto seats. A perfect example of the increasing divide is in Tennesee where Phil Bredesen although winning every county a decade or so ago from memory, I believe he only won 3 counties with an 11 point margin. in 2008 Obama won more counties with a larger margin against him. so with 15 years of Hindsight, I conclude that the rural republican trend will continue.

You are just 15? haha, welcome to the forum, it's nice to see young people interested in this stuff.