Tag Archives: Rural-Urban Divide

Democratic Branding.

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During my many years of working in the advertising industry at a high level (I helped create brands for hundreds of well-known products and services), I learned that, if an organization fails to create a positive brand image for itself, its competitors will create one for it. And the competitors’ version will not be flattering.

That’s exactly what Republicans have done to the Democratic Party.

Upon doing a bit of informal research, I learned that most registered Democrats and independents, cannot, in a few words, describe what the Party stands for. If you ask a hundred people, you’ll likely get a hundred different answers. Indeed, many Democratic leaders take pride in quoting Will Rogers: “I’m not a member of an organized political party. I’m a Democrat.”

Yet most can state the GOP’s preferred brand message: “Smaller government and lower taxes.” (Of course, MAGA has turned that into outright hatred of government and ‘The Libs.'”)

Democrats, having failed themselves to clearly articulate a brand message, have permitted Republicans to do it for them. They have labeled Democrats as “tax and spend liberals.”

It should come as no surprise that the label is wholly inaccurate. In recent decades, Republicans have run up far larger deficits. And their tax cuts have mostly benefited large corporations and the wealthy. In fact, Reagan, W, and Trump have all broken our economy leaving their Democratic successors tasked with fixing it.

It should also be no surprise that, given the Republican version of the brand, so many people of low- and middle-income vote Republican against their own self-interest.

In addition, the Democratic Party’s failure to properly brand itself has resulted in a lack of loyalty. Too many of the “Big Tent” Party’s supporters are single issue voters. In the recent election, they consisted of those who are pro-Palestinian, angry at Biden’s unwavering support for Israel and seemingly unaware of Trump’s willingness to abandon Palestinian dreams of freedom. There were others frustrated that Biden had not done more to relieve student debt or frustrated that he had failed to expand the Supreme Court.

There were dozens of issues that lowered Democratic voter turnout. The biggest of which was inflation. Too many voters didn’t understand the true causes of inflation – that it began as a result of Trump’s failure to properly address the pandemic, which disrupted supply chains that have taken years to repair. Why would they? Biden and the Party never explained it to them.

I also think the Democratic Party’s failed messaging has permitted Republicans, conservative pundits, Russian operatives, and QAnon conspiracy theorists to inaccurately portray Democratic initiatives – to mislead and to misinform voters.

For years, I have begged the Party to improve its communications with voters and to create an accurate brand description that clearly states its support for working-class people of all incomes, colors and backgrounds. One of the very few to listen is Ken Martin, Chair of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party in Minnesota. With his help, candidates like Governor Tim Walz, Senators Amy Klobuchar, Tina Smith and the late Paul Wellstone have enjoyed widespread support of voters even in staunchly Republican districts.

Fortunately, at a time when the Democratic National Committee is still licking its wounds following the stunning outcome of the election, Mr. Martin has declared his interest in leading the committee. I know that many in Washington will look unfavorably at a leader from “flyover country”. But it is the Party’s failures in most of the “flyover” counties and states that have led to the recent MAGA success.

The Democratic Party is unnecessarily suffering from a long-standing urban-rural divide. The sentiment that led to the term “City Slicker” largely still exists in rural America. And even though modern-day farming consists of running a huge business, few Democratic leaders in Washington and elsewhere have come to recognize that.

I hope most Democrats ignore the post-election circular firing squad and blame game and address what I believe is at the root of our problems. We need to focus on creating an accurate brand message and combine that with an aggressive and ongoing outreach effort aimed at all Americans.

Ken Martin is the best person to lead that effort.

Addressing Rural Decline And Our Political Divide.

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Over Thanksgiving weekend, I visited my hometown in rural Iowa. Once a thriving community with a variety of cafes, grocery stores, a five-and-dime, a clothing store, 3 farm implement dealers, 3 car dealers, a couple of hotels and more, it now features more empty storefronts and museums than active businesses…casualties of interstate highways that bypass all but the largest cities, corporate farms that have reduced the farm population by roughly 90 percent, big box stores and online retail.

Is it any wonder that many of the few remaining residents of such towns are frustrated?

As they have watched their town fade away, they have seen job opportunities fade along with it. Their home values have declined. And the decreasing tax base forces them to choose between larger property tax assessments or declining infrastructure.

They mistakenly believe that their income taxes disproportionately benefit large cities (however an Indiana study found that taxpayers in 46 metropolitan counties paid 82.5% of the taxes but received only 76.7% of the expenditures). They feel that their economic futures are no longer in their own control, but in the hands of a group of greedy corporations and politicians. Many believe urban “elites” are the source of all their problems. After all, it was the millionaires and billionaires on Wall Street who used their money to gamble on derivatives leading to the Great Recession.

It’s largely because of their circumstances that they have become susceptible to fake news. They believe (rightfully so) that the mainstream media ignore those living in “flyover land” so they tune to rightwing blowhards who skillfully pander to them by channeling their frustrations and outrage against liberals, immigrants and urban welfare recipients. They have been led to believe that the sensational crimes reported on evening newscasts show that city dwellers are a violent and lawless bunch. Many believe the cities are filled only with criminals and people with advanced degrees who lack common sense. And far too many believe the fear-mongering politicians who tell them that our nation is being over-run by criminals and terrorists.

Instead of finding common ground with the millions of similarly underpaid, overworked and overstressed people who work in large cities, they have been led to believe that they are rivals…indeed, enemies.

I am convinced that, more than anything else, this is what has led to our political divide.

The people living in rural communities similar to my hometown – those that have been persuaded that big city elites are conspiring against them – have an outsized influence on our national politics. Though only 14% of the US population lives in rural areas, the rural population has a disproportionate representation in the US Senate and, therefore, the Electoral College. Indeed, it is primarily because of their frustrations that Donald Trump now sits in the Oval Office despite receiving nearly 3 million fewer votes.

Given this, how can we bridge the rural/urban divide? How can we improve the economic opportunities for rural Americans and help the struggling rural communities?

We can start by telling them the truth – that their cherished lifestyle isn’t coming back until they make some difficult choices and accept monumental change. Despite the promises of some politicians, it’s unlikely that manufacturing plants are going to return to many of these towns and, even if they do, most of the work will be done by robots. And small, independent retail stores are unlikely to return as long as most Americans prefer to shop online and in big box stores.

Ironically, the most likely scenario for rebuilding our rural communities and for bridging our political divide is to commit to an aggressive (and necessary) response to climate change. Decreasing carbon emissions will require less dependence on imports and more demand for local production. It will require that fossil fuels be replaced with sustainable energy sources. Finally, it will require a reduction in the amount of cropland devoted to corn, soybeans and cattle. Instead, much of the land will necessarily be used for locally-grown produce.

In other words, the side effect of heading off climate disaster is to stop arguing and improve the circumstances of all Americans, rural and urban alike.

Let’s Not Over-Analyze Trump’s Victory.

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Despite the blame being heaped onto the Clinton campaign and the Democratic Party, I believe it was never a fair contest. Hillary was outgunned by a biased media; by a partisan FBI director; and by Russian interference. But even without those things, Hillary may have fallen victim, as did Trump’s primary opponents, to the cultural changes that have taken place over the past five decades.

Those who voted for Trump simply wanted to throw a live grenade into Washington without regard for the aftermath. They have been enticed by a right-wing ideology that has destroyed respect for America’s greatest institutions – the federal government, the court system, traditional news media, science, and public education.

Contrary to popular belief, Trump voters were not merely blue collar workers who are struggling as the result of globalization. In fact, many of Trump’s supporters are comfortably retired, or are quite wealthy. These people were driven to vote for Trump out of the fear that they will lose their power and wealth to immigrants and people of color. Indeed, for many, President Obama was the embodiment of that fear.

Certainly, there is also the rural-urban divide that has been much discussed. But that is based on economic conditions that no president or administration can easily solve. It has followed the demise of the family farmer. Since the 1960’s, the size of farms has grown by ten-fold. As a consequence, there are far fewer people to shop in small towns.

In addition, franchise organizations and large box stores like Walmart, which are subsidized by governments, have used predatory pricing to hollow out the retail centers of small and medium-sized towns. That means there are far fewer independent retailers, and far fewer small-town jobs that pay a living wage.

At the same time, robots have replaced human workers in auto plants and other manufacturing plants.

Those who once worked in rural communities and mid-size cities have been left with a choice: Either continue to struggle, or give up the only lifestyle they have known and move to the large urban centers. These people are angry…at their former employers, at their government, and at what they see as the urban “elites” who seem to be do doing much better than they are.

Obviously, their anger is misplaced. But they have fallen victim to the new GOP’s message of fear – fear of those they don’t know and don’t understand. And their fear is driven by Republican propaganda on Fox News; on right-wing radio; on Breitbart News; on social media. During this past election, they were also deluded by a plethora of fake news sites – many of them financed by Putin’s Russia.

Addressing their anger and their plight will not be easy. Jobs lost to corporate farms, big box stores and robots will not be coming back. And adding tariffs to goods from our international trading partners, as Trump suggests, will only make matters worse by increasing the cost of the goods they need.

No president can wave a wand and bring back family farms and restore small towns to their former glory. That would take an act of Congress to end subsidies for corporate farms; to make multinational corporations pay their fair share of taxes; to make the wealthy pay their share of income taxes. But those things are anathema to those who now control Congress and the White House. Instead, they are committed to trickle-down economics on steroids – an economic theory that has never worked.

Given that reality, it seems likely that the new government will have to distract their angry rural supporters by creating a diversion. It’s likely they will try to re-focus the anger toward immigrants; toward Muslims; toward Planned Parenthood.

Oh wait! They’ve already done that. That’s how they got elected to begin with!