#1495 No One Supports the Economic Interests of Rural America (Repost)
Best of the Left - Leftist Perspectives on Progressive Politics, News, Culture, Economics and Democracy
Jay Tomlinson
4.5 • 3.4K Ratings
🗓️ 28 June 2023
⏱️ 79 minutes
🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Original Air Date 6/11/2022
Today we take a look at the reasons why Democrats lost rural America and why it's important to make gains outside urban centers through working-class coalitions and a focus on the policy failures of unchecked Republicanism.
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SHOW NOTES
Democrats used to win elections in rural areas, but that seems like a distant memory now. This week, Zach is joined by Bill Hogseth, a political organizer from rural Wisconsin, to talk about the difference between making promises and delivering change
Ch. 2: Can Democrats Win in Rural America? - Deconstructed - Air Date 6-4-22
Maine state Sen. Chloe Maxmin tackles one of the most pressing problems confronting the modern Democratic Party: how to reverse its decades-long backslide in rural support. Maxmin and her co-author and campaign manager Canyon Woodward join Ryan Grim
Ch. 3: How Democrats Lost Rural America w/ Anthony Flaccavento Part 1 - Jacobin Radio - Air Date 3-24-22
Anthony Flaccavento, Virginia-based farmer, author, and co-founder of the Rural-Urban Bridge Initiative, joins the Jacobin Show to discuss rural America—and why the Democrats lose so consistently in rural elections.
Ch. 4: Joe Shepherd of United Rural Democrats - The Rick Smith Show - Air Date 5-9-22
By working people. For working people. Welcome to The Rick Smith Show.
Ch. 5: How Democrats Lost Rural America w/ Anthony Flaccavento Part 2 - Jacobin Radio - Air Date 3-24-22
Anthony Flaccavento, Virginia-based farmer, author, and co-founder of the Rural-Urban Bridge Initiative, joins the Jacobin Show to discuss rural America—and why the Democrats lose so consistently in rural elections.
Former OHIO Democratic party chair David Pepper On Why We Need to Focus on State Capitols to Save Democracy, and why we all need to do our part to lift it up.
MEMBERS-ONLY BONUS CLIP(S)
On Reality Asserts Itself, Thomas Frank, author of “What’s the Matter with Kansas” and “Listen, Liberal”, tells host Paul Jay that the Democratic Party serves the professional class and the top 10% and no longer cares about the poor or working class.
Ch. 8: The New Democrats w/ Lily Geismer - The Dig - Air Date 6-5-22
Dan’s second episode with historian Lily Geismer, who he interviewed in 2019 about Don’t Blame Us: Suburban Liberals and the Transformation of the Democratic Party. This interview is on Left Behind: The Democrats’ Failed Attempt to Solve Inequality
FINAL COMMENTS
Ch. 9: Final comments on the ignoring the middle class and poor open the door to right-wing populism of the worst sort
MUSIC (Blue Dot Sessions)
SHOW IMAGE:
Description: Photo of a blue, dented, and rusted mailbox on a spike leaning against an old wooden fence. Its flag is down, indicating no mail. Thick, golden tall grass grows behind it against a blue sky.
Credit: "Rural America" by Kris Notaro, Flickr | License CC by 2.0 | Changes: Cropped, slight increase in brightness and saturation
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hey everyone, you're about to hear one of our excellent episodes handpicked from the archives. |
| 0:05.1 | Why? Because we believe in vacation time, and so do our members. |
| 0:09.2 | After more than 10 years of perpetually verging on burnout, |
| 0:13.9 | members voted to give me a French amount of time off each year. |
| 0:18.0 | So I thank them for that, and use this as an opportunity to urge you |
| 0:22.9 | to agitate for better working conditions for yourself and across the board. |
| 0:27.6 | Now enjoy the fruits of our labor. |
| 0:34.2 | Welcome to this episode of The Award-winning Best of Left Podcast, |
| 0:37.6 | in which we shall take a look at the reasons why Democrats lost rural America |
| 0:41.7 | and why it's important to make gains outside urban centers through working-class coalitions |
| 0:46.7 | and a focus on the policy failures of unchecked republicanism. |
| 0:51.2 | Clips today are from Pitchfork Economics, Deconstructed, Jacobin Radio, |
| 0:56.5 | the Rick Smith Show, the Tennessee Holler Podcast, |
| 1:00.2 | with additional members, only clips from The Real News and The Dig. |
| 1:10.8 | I'd like to go down this politics road a little bit more. |
| 1:13.3 | One of the things that you said in the piece is you talked about your dedication to good organizing. |
| 1:18.2 | It really writ large, the party has done a lot of organizing. |
| 1:23.4 | There's real commitment to organizing in Wisconsin. |
| 1:25.8 | I think Barack Obama famously made a lot of organizing commitments across the country, |
| 1:31.2 | especially in 2008. |
| 1:33.6 | And there is kind of a resurgence of organizing that's been going on. |
| 1:37.4 | But it wasn't enough to win Dunn County, and you point that out. |
... |
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