Proposing a Rural Issues Group

I think there are enough of us who live in or have lived in rural areas to come up with some interesting ideas and strategies for this particular group of Americans. Anyone with an interest would be appreciated. This is a large problem for us as Democrats.

Proposed ideas for a mission statement appreciated. I'll start with some suggestions.

To develop an understanding of why this group voted the way they did.

To discuss issues important to this particular group and develop ways to mold our message that will further understanding.

To develop strategies to get our message out to them. (To me this will be the most difficult part but if we do not do it we will continue to fail with this demographic)

I will be away most of the day I think so I would appreciate some kicks and I will try to peek in later. If not I will give her a kick for a few days. We need 10 stars I think. Thanks.

You address an important issue.

It is a very important issue. There is a lot more to this than the morality issue, much more and we all need to understand that.

I live in rural Illinois.

Obama got more votes in my township than Keyes, but Bush got more votes than Kerry.

We are losing jobs here like mad. Farmers are going to be hurting. Yet, they still vote repuke.

Maybe it is a leadership issue?

I would be happy to join your group.

We have lots to do including influencing some on this board not to write us off. I hope this group makes it.

Just wondering where else Bush got all those "popular votes."

we are starting a working group for rural messaging on progressive issues. the dlc will come down hard on the southern and rural message needing to be more conservative. many of us think this is a error in strategy.

if your interested in this type of work. email me please. kevin@pdamerica.org

interested. I am headed out so I will e mail you when I return. Perhaps we might end up working together if we get this group going. I agree that going to the right is a mistake and I think it is a big one but that is JMHO. Consider joining this group. We need 10.

also, here is the group i just created
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/rural_dems

KICK I am out to spread manure on my pastures instead of all over this board. Please consider this group. We can influence this demographic, it has been done before and we need all your ideas. You do not have to be rural to help us.

You're right. There are a lot of great ideas on posted on DU about how to get the Democratic word out. But so many of them won't work here in my rural area. My whole family lives in rural areas in Michigan, Illinois and Louisiana, and I doubt that many urban Democrats have to worry about the kinds of things we do. Like driving 30 miles to the doctor. I think this is an excellent idea!

I have been "rural" all my life and can't even imagine being anything else. I'm an old "country girl" from Arkansas. Lived on gravel road 'til three years ago. Now, it has "chip-seal".

like how to keep Mr. Johnson's cattle off the damn road? :-)

This is crucial.

Good start, I like the idea of a mission.

nt

I live in a rural area of Washington State. Here are the issues I feel weren't addressed, or inadequately addressed in 2004:

1. The war in Iraq.
2. Women's rights (abortion rights)
3. Racism
4. Gun control (more not less)
5. Freedom from religion
6. Universal Health Care (socialized medicine)
7. The environment
8. The military indusrial complex
9. Corporate power
10. Globalization

as to purely "rural" issues:

1. How to build a teenage-moron resistant mailbox so I don't have to drive to town to get my mail.

nt

Apparantly with baseball bats. We gave up the endless reconstruction projects and got a PO box. Small things amuse the small minded.

A small annoyance compensated by living in a lovely place.

behind the mailbox issue. I thought the morons were only still doing that here.

Lack of Internet access, or incredibly, unbelievably, stultifying slow access.

Need for more rural hospitals, and better pay for primary care physicians so they will stay in rural areas and lighten the patient load for the saints that do stay for quite little money.

Next day mail. Now what is that?

Freedom from the exigencies of WalMart. WalMart closes business in neighboring towns, and increases the Medicaid rolls and strains the local food banks.

Help in developing small business opportunities and in attracting large businesses that don't need to be near a large city. (There's that Internet access thing again.)

And that's just what comes most immediately to mind.

so do you want to join? We only need a few more and it seems you have put some thought into this. We need solutions to all these things. Rural areas are really often held hostage in a lot of ways and it is difficult for more urban people to understand that. Great thoughts, please consider joining us. We need a couple more.

:hi:

:kick:

:hi:

:hi:

I think we might get this group, a few more and we are there. Now we need to put together a mission statement. Yikes!

Thanks Paddy

1. To explore issues unique to rural voters
2. To identify those issues that we have in common with "other"
voters
3. To identify which issues are already being addressed by our party
4. To decide which issues we need to do more work on
5. To discuss how to frame our debate so that issues not currently
important to rural voter can become more so

Said with a Mr. Burns influence, rubbing my hands, feeling very confident that we just might be able to make a difference. I do think we should add something about devising ways to be heard in rural communities. That is the only thing I would add. Would you like to add that and when we get our 10, we may have them now, I will send it out so everyone can add to it if they want to and I will get it to Skinner. Thanks.

I didn't mean for my quick list to be all-inclusive. We may even want to combine some or take some off. I was just throwing out ideas to get started.

Judging from us, we know that there are at least some rural voters who share our views. I think that working on how best to get our message out to the others is very important.

was good and it makes for not only a good starting point but it gives us a lot to think about. It is just a mission statement and really, I think it pretty much takes care of it. Great job. I think we need one more person to commit or one more person who posted to say yes I will work on this and we can go with it. I will put together the mission statement you proposed, add the one I thought we needed, send it out to all who responded and see what they think and then we can get it to Skinner.

I'm excited!

I'd be interested in working on this too.

I'd like to see a Rural Issues group.:)

YAY. Thanks.

Please feel free to change or add to this.

1. To explore issues unique to rural voters
2. To identify those issues that we have in common with "other"
voters
3. To identify which issues are already being addressed by our party
4. To decide which issues we need to do more work on
5. To discuss how to frame our debate so that issues not currently
important to rural voter can become more so
6. To explore ways to communicate our ideas to rural communities.

I sent this PM to everyone here who said they wanted to be involved. If you responded but did not state that you were wanting to be in this group please let me know by responding to this post that you want to be a part of it.

To identify issues all rural Americans have in common. Just a thought. :D

by the 1st statement. Should it be made more clear? Look again and see what you think.

It may come across as more excluding than inclusive, because the concept of "other" doesn't always have a positive or even neutral connotation. Is there away to combine the two, or am I being too picky?

This is our group, I just brought it up. Lets hear from some others. I have no idea how to do any of this. I saw the first two as being both exclusive and then inclusive. I have no problem with anyone changing this. What say you all?

I love this mission statement. Some background: we (PDA) are the alternative to the dlc. We have state organizations growing rapidly in each state! We are in the process of fundriaing in hollywood for our c4 think tank. Those issues out of the think tank will be "progressive" issues focused on economic sustainabilty (fiscal responsability versus conservative approach.) NOT tax and spend, and NOT the centrist language that the dlc will be taking. Our framing will be:

- the rural message
- the southern message
- and organizing the religious left

We have a southern regional group in PDA (email me if you would like to be apart of it)

the rural message, lets take that mission into the yahoo group and hash it out there, or begin working on just that.

for the religious left, check out this conversation we are having at the former kerry forum http://www.commongroundcommonsense.org/index.php?s=57929f1d506c8c6205cc5aebb1c48565&showtopic=1082

I know this group, I think I signed up right after the convention but somehow my mail system sorted it out as spam, kinda like they did all my Dennis Kucinich mail! OK. This is great, you have a huge start on this already. I am getting excited. It makes no sense that rural America has been duped this badly, not knowing the people I know. Thanks.

All we need is agreement on the mission statement. Take this time to voice any additions you might want to see in the statement. Here is a kick. I will check back later. Thanks all, this will be interesting as we all come together with our own local issues.

Not to mention schools with ESL (English as a Second Language).

And, respect for those that labor to feed us.

and I think they all fall somewhere in the mission statement. Being where I am doing the type of farming/ranching that I do the migrant worker has been out of my experience. I am very glad to see this brought up. I hope we get everyone to OK the statement soon so we can have our group and get on these things. Thanks, very nice.

I haven't necessarily been a rural resident for about 13 years now, but I'd be happy to hear what you all have to say and offer my own comments from time to time.

It makes for an interesting perspective.

in upstate New York - namely the upper Hudson valley and the "southern tier" region.

Many issues in more rural areas of the US also apply to upstate NY, particularly those involving lost jobs in declining industrial bases, the shit jobs that are replacing the lost ones (FYI, prisons are big business in upstate NY) and lost farms. In addition, the religious fundies have started to make some serious inroads.

However, upstate NY also has a history of progressive politics. The Chatauqua movement (near the Penn border and Lake Erie) at the end of the 1890s-early 1900s is one example. The Finger Lakes area is a place where the women's rights movement has some roots. Plus, there is the Northeast Organic Farming Association www.nofa.org that could provide a few solutions to rural farm needs.

Methinks this would be a good place to add my 2 cents AND learn from others to help educate fellow blue-staters who know little about our own state's rural areas.

:kick:

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