"F" in "DFL"

As I was doing some thinking, this question popped into my mind. Does the F in DFL really mean anything anymore? Sure the Democratic party has support of Labor (while unions hold up), but look at the farmland in Minnesota, much of it is quite red, so we have lost many Farmers (the F).

It did come about when the prairie populism was at its peak last century. Yet now you are hard pressed to get Farmers to vote DFL.

Are there any realistic outreach techniques to make that segment of the state trust the DFL again? I read Wellstone's book so his actions show it can be done in outstate Minnesota, but the day to day battle is with KSTP-AM and other rural AM stations that drive home "Democrats are evil" day after day after day....

One way I think is to work to reframe the abortion issue. In many rural areas, pro-choice=pro-abortion, or how it is thought about now. It has to be redefined to drive home the point it is just a different way to MINIMIZE abortions (as we know they can realistly never be stopped). To save lives, bringing up the bottom of society would do wonders to abortion numbers. Part of this is to use the segments of the religious left in the state. It would have to be mixed in the message.

Rep Jim Obestar (DFL) in the very rural iron range. Won something like 70% of the vote. How does he do it? I went to a rally up there when Edwards stopped in Hibbing, Obestar spoke for a while, the guy is like a rock star up there.

it is mostly mining up there. I know Peterson (a Blue-Dog Democrat) always carries the 7th, but it is hard in many local races in west central and south central MN.

The 7th will go GOP after Peterson leaves unless the party plans for it.

my mom tells me a lot of the farmers out near her hometown (Renville County) were voting Republican - which means they voted against Roosevelt... Go figure.

The southern 1/3 of Minnesota has been consistently Republican, going back to the days of Alexander Ramsey. Conseqently, you don't see a lot of Democrats coming from the area-- with the exception of guys like Tim Penny and David Minge, who are both solid centrists.

I've lived in southern Minnesota, and outside of Mankato and some of the other college towns, it is GOP country. However, DFLers can win in S MN, but they have to tailor their message to their audience, and "speak their language". This does NOT mean abandoning their issues or principles, but changing the way they talk about their issues, and framing the debate in a way that S MN voters understand and can relate to.