Rural Democrats were urged to speak up about the November election – but in a neighborly way – on a national call Tuesday night to build support for Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz.
Walz, who was named as Harris’ running mate Tuesday, Aug. 6, was listed as a presenter in initial announcements earlier this week. But while the call was occurring, Walz was making his first public appearance with Harris at a rally in Philadelphia.
Despite his absence, Walz and his background as a progressive politician with rural sensibilities were a focal point of the online rally. The gathering lasted nearly 2.5 hours, had about 10,000 viewers, and included more than 25 speakers – from a U.S. senator and representative to other Democratic figures such as state party chiefs, political action committee leaders, local elected officials, and several Democrats who, notably, had run unsuccessfully for state or federal office.
“Vice President Harris has laid down the marker out here in rural America” with the selection of Walz as her running mate, said Chris Gibbs, an Ohioan with Rural Voices USA. “[She] has given rural America a gift tonight, a gift that we can point to and use to raise up all those who have felt like their voices weren’t being heard in rural America.”
Gibbs said the tone of Harris’ campaign is also a gift for rural Democrats. “As the vice president said earlier, we believe in lifting people up, not knocking them down,” he said. “And the best part, she says it with a smile.”
Missouri organizer Jess Piper was also wearing a grin.
“I haven’t quit smiling all day since I heard the news about Tim Walz,” said Piper, who ran unsuccessfully for a state House seat in 2022. “And I haven’t quit smiling since I’ve been on this call.”
Brandon Presley, who lost his Mississippi gubernatorial bid to Republican incumbent Tate Reeves last year, said Walz was a great choice for reaching rural voters. “I am over the moon about Tim Walz being selected as vice president [Democratic nominee] today,” he said.
Presley made rural outreach a big part of his campaign. He said other Democrats need to do the same if they want to cut Republican advantages with rural voters and improve Democrats’ chances of victory.
“You can’t ignore people into voting for you,” Presley said. “We have a right, a duty, as Democrats to go out and talk to voters where they are and to make a difference in our communities.”
Several speakers said that the harsh politics of recent years have taken a toll in rural areas and that communities need to encourage respect and civility during what will likely be a contentious political debate.
Bobby Berk, a star of the reality television series “Queer Eye” who grew up in Missouri, said he recalls his “very Republican” parents speaking civilly with rural neighbors who were going to vote for then candidate Bill Clinton. Berk said politics weren’t an issue when it was time to help bale hay.
“It didn’t matter who you voted for, it only mattered that you were there to help your community,” Berk said. “And I really want us to be able to get back to the way it was where neighbors could have different political views, but still every summer go out there and help each other.”
Comedian Trae Crowder, who bills himself as the Liberal Redneck and comes from Celina, Tennessee (“a town with more liquor stores than traffic lights, at a ratio of 2 to 0”) said his neighbors turned up for him when his father died.
“I was living paycheck to paycheck, student loan debt, all this stuff. But I had to pay for my dad’s funeral,” he said.
After the service, the funeral director told him that his bill had already been settled. “And I said, ‘what do you mean?’ He said, ‘well, everybody in town chipped in and paid for it, so it’s covered. You guys don’t have to worry about it.’ And so I know the heart of rural America.”
Despite extolling the virtues of neighborliness and cooperation, several speakers acknowledged that Democrats in “deep red” counties may feel isolated and intimidated about speaking up.
Jane Kleeb, chairperson of the Nebraska Democratic Party, said fellow Democrats sometimes identify themselves in whispers if they see her wearing a Democratic sweatshirt at the grocery store.
“I know as a small-town and rural organizer, it gets lonely,” she said. One thing that helps is a sense of humor.
She was introduced at a county commissioners meeting in Nebraska as the driver of a vehicle with a Democratic bumper sticker. “She’s probably the only minivan in this entire county that has a Biden sticker,” a commissioner said.
“We have to meet that with laughter,” Kleeb said. “I could have gotten angry and said, ‘I’m not the only one,’ and given him facts about that. But you have to laugh and say, ‘yeah, I’m a proud Democrat. And there’s a lot more of us.’”
Anderson Clayton, North Carolina’s Democratic Party chairperson, said rural Democrats can point to the accomplishments of the Biden and Harris administration in delivering broadband, infrastructure, and other programs that benefit rural communities.
“Right now [there are some who] may be feeling scared to say and to stand up in their rural town or in their small town and say that they’re a Democrat,” Clayton said. “You don’t need to be afraid. … Look fear in the face. Look Republicans in the face. And say, ‘we’re not backing down. No way, no how.’”
Several speakers emphasized the importance of contesting down-ballot races because small changes in turnout can add up to success further up the ballot.
“Every person who comes to vote in these down ballot races helps the top of the ticket,” said Piper of Blue Missouri. “We [need to] make sure that there is a Democratic candidate in every state, on every ballot, in every race across the country. And that absolutely will help the top of the ticket.”
Tim Marena is editor of The Daily Yonder (DailyYonder.com), where this appeared. See the original article.
From The Progressive Populist, September 1, 2024
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