I probably should’ve included it in my essay, but the people I listen to and speak to are rural Democrats. Progressives living in rural spaces. It is very rare that a republican would attend one of my speaking events. My essays reflect what rural Democrats have to say.
Which is perfect - because for years, National Democrats (urged by highly paid consultants?) have denied support to almost any elections where they couldn't guarantee a win. ("They've got some 'splainin' to do"! even though Ricky Ricardo never actually said that!) I am so grateful for your example, and pray that my work with LeavingMAGA.org offers some support to that work. PS I'm sending your substack to two of my DC area friends - one is now living in MO full time and the other has a sister living there!
Eloquent is speaking in a way your audience can understand. You nail it every time. Keep speaking. Keep writing. Don't give up. Thank you for all you do.
Besides Jess, today I also benefitted from reading Ezra Klein's NYT piece for September 7 on what the Democrats need to do in the coming budget vote (i.e., use the power of the purse to shut our proto-authoritarian government down plus choose bold new leaders) and William Kristol's and Ryan Goodman's far-reaching Bulwark conversation on the many and far-reaching implications of the administration's apparent murder of eleven souls off the coast of Venezuela. My mind feels like one of physicist Gerald Zacharias' frictionless pucks bouncing seemingly randomly off the four sides of a pocketless pool table. (Plus realizing that my pharmacist was as much out of the loop about government "advice" concerning vaccinations as I, an 89-year-older, when I inquired of her yesterday how I should approach my fall flu and COVID vaccinations!) Good for you, Jess, Far less important than what we call windmills is spreading widely understandings that they and solar panels are so important to recapturing a sustainable climate for the rising generations who come after us having resumed tracking our place on the moral arc of the American democratic experiment.
You point out one of the major ways the Democratic Party needs to evolve or die a thousand deaths at the ballot box. I appreciate your columns because they always remind me to stop and check myself. I want to be reminded about people. All people. It helps me. Thank you.
And the Republican Party can just continue the way they are and not evolve? The Grand Old Party does not exist any longer. Sometimes you hear a whimper out of them, and they "privately" say what they really think, otherwise they just follow along like robots. I have run out of adjectives to describe GOP "lawmakers and law breakers".
I'm not rural and I call them windmills! It is just pretentious to quibble about that. Democrats--too many of them-- are totally out of touch with real people.
It is not that anyone is out of touch with the real people they know. It is the people one does not know, and the only way to know them is by listening to them and engaging with them. Not everyone has the same concerns and not everyone will see the same solutions. And some people will not listen even when you are prepared to listen to them, although others in the same place and at the same time will.
This is a very deep concern. I'm in touch with a very cross-discipinary field, neuropsychoanalysis. One of the fascinating things to watch in it is how much effort it takes and how rewarding it is, to stop and think what someone actually means by what they say. They speak out of their own experience and from the terms used in their own disciplines. And it is a stretch to understand sometimes what they mean. (For them as well as for me, the observer not working in any part of the field.) As an example of this, here is a link to a discussion between Karl Friston and Mark Solms. Mark says that he is concerned they may agree on everything and that might make it useless to have the discussion, but in fact, as he points out, they DO agree. But if you listen to it, they speak almost from different worlds, so it doesn't sound as though they do. -- A few minutes of this will be enough to show that, no need to go on and on with it unless you get interested in it. But for me the point is that they do know they agree, although on the surface it seems they are saying different things entirely. Karl Friston & Mark Solms: Is it Possible to Engineer Artificial Consciousness?
I call them windmills. Most people I come in contact with and media do as well. Jess you have taught (reminded me) we as people have the same needs and concerns. A home, affordable food, health care, safety for our kids. All in our immediate needs for a comfortable life. Just the basics. Thank you for sharing those concerns and listening.
I actually know some people who are otherwise very kind, caring people who voted for the despot (I don't write or speak his name). Because, as they explained to me "abortion" and "I'm Republican." They cannot be convinced their vote has long-term implications for our democracy. If the Christofascists get their way, we won't have elections anymore and no votes will matter.
I really relate to your comment. I hear those same rationalizations: one issue and almost genetically vote Republican. It is beyond frustrating for those voters to relegate the destruction of our country to meaningless beside their only concern (which in the case of destroying women's rights only makes me angrier). I don't confront them because I believe it is hopeless, but I cannot avoid having no respect and only disdain for them. Those are the kind of people who are the downfall of our nation. I get it that one ought to try to listen to them, but hearing them only makes my anger worse.
Scott - I truly get not wanting to subject yourself to "talking with a brick wall," which is only more infuriating. There are a few people, however, with whom I have long friendships, who I have decided not to walk away from. I have chosen not to try to convince them their choices impact others. Rather, I want them to see me when the impacts become real in my life. When, as a lesbian woman in a 38-year loving partnership (8-years married) my civil rights are once again taken away from us. Their, "oh, that won't happen" response is so exasperating, when it's happening already. And Alito & Thomas have already signaled it, just like Project 2025 signaled the Christofascist plans that are now our reality. I want them to see someone they know live with the results of their choices. And maybe, just maybe, they will connect the dots? When they say, "I didn't vote for that," I will respond with, "Yes, you did and I tried to tell you, but you were too concerned about protecting your white, wealthy, evangelical, supposed Christian identity." Yes. I get angry about it!
As a psychologist, half my job is listening. It's actually curative because people like to feel heard. They also like to feel validated even if you don't agree with them. That's why your deft handling of the angry Iowa man let him leave calmly instead of in a tizzy. Democratic politicians must learn to listen and validate. As the old saying goes, they will forget what you said but they'll never forget how you made them feel. And that's what will guide their hand in the voting booth.
Misty, I am a retired deputy sheriff. I was selected to be a hostage* negotiator because I can communicate well verbally. It took me a lot of time, energy, and effort to learn how to listen (it was not an easy journey for me.) I ended up developing training for other negotiators along those lines; one of my tools was the "human design clue: 2 ears, 1 mouth. Listening is twice as important as talking." I also doubled up as a peer support team member as part of our CISM team, and developed another avenue of training "You have to hear what people are saying, what they are NOT saying, and how they are doing or not doing that."
I got to be (no modesty here) pretty good at it. I then had an opportunity to watch my wife (also a clinical psychologist) work. I was a seasonal creek. She is the Mississippi.
*The more current term is Crisis Negotiator, because there are 99 crisis calls for every 1 true hostage call.
A new description - a seasonal stream vs the Mississippi. I hadn’t heard that before, but I could use it quite regularly. Thanks for sharing your story Ally.
That is the frustrating point. Republicans are good at making people feel listened to while not actually doing anything. I understand the necessity to do this if you want to win, but making it sound like Democrats are not listening to what rural Americans want and acting on their economic issues, is nonsense. (Infrastructure act, CHIPs act ...).
And by the way, its the same issues for me and lot of other urban people.
It's not about listening and then legislating on those issues, it's about listening and making someone feel they have been listened to.
I've been out here on my little "farm" in SW Iowa too isolated I guess. I really am watching and following the disaster that is happening to your state, my state, and our experiment in self-governance, our country. I show up to most protests. I have come to my own conclusions, independently and, I think, critically.
Jess, when in the world did what I've always called windmills turn into turbines? People are angry if you say windmills? Sheesh. I like the fact that we are using the wind to power Iowa.
The guy that got so angry and walked out has been victimized by propaganda, in my view.
The people all pissy about calling them windmills are missing the big picture here and really not focused on what is important.
When I start a conversation with a voter, I always start with open ended questions designed to get them to tell me where they are and what they are thinking about. “As we begin to approach next year’s elections, how are you doing?” Or, “Given all the divisions we face in our community, what are your you thinking the most about?” Or, “How are you sleeping lately? Is there anything keeping you up at night?”
Importantly, after asking that open ended question, shut up and wait for an answer. Then ask another open ended question like, “Why does that matter to you?” Or, “What are your thoughts about that?”
Give people space to talk and listen to them. Then mirror those thoughts with your own. “That bothers me a lot too. Or, I think about that a lot too.” Then tell a personal story about how that impacts you or someone else. Give them a chance to tell their experiences or that of a family member or friend.
The purpose of these kind of conversations is to show that their is common ground on what you are experiencing with someone else and that you can listen and agree on something as equals. It is neighbors talking to neighbors about what they share instead of something they do not share.
I discovered by accident the power of simple curiosity about what someone knows or says. I just wanted this obnoxious person to stop berating and preaching (they were! there was so much anger in their voice) that I just started asking simple, open-ended questions about what they thought and how they thought things worked and what they were interested in. And it stopped all the angry atmosphere! It also taught me a lot about how they were thinking, which was interesting in itself.
Bruce, those kinds of open-ended questions born of genuine curiosity, and waiting to hear answers, are what real conversations are. Most of us, myself too-often included, are so anxious to express our own thoughts that we just can't wait to hear someone else's. And that's not just a D or R problem, it's a human problem. Sigh.
Much to my amazement it's not what keeps me up at night but what keeps me driving hard virtually all day -- which is what makes me sleep pretty well, actually. But my days can be really oppressive . . .
I used to live in Van Wert, OH, a small town just off US30 in farm country. The fields are seemingly endless. I grew up on an NC tobacco farm and was so glad I did not have to work in those endless cornfields in NW Ohio. My last trip through Van Wert was enlightening. Windmills dotted farm fields all along the highway. The land was still being farmed. Those windmills are or were a stable source of income for that farm family. Prices for commodities fluctuate, but bills and debts keep coming. Lord knows, the current regime is not helping rural communities.
Van Wert is named for my ancestor Isaac Van Wert! He, along with others, captured British Major John Andre in the Revolution, which led to the downfall of Benedict Arnold and his traitorous plan.
Yes! And I am sick and tried of hearing people on the right telling me what I should be concerned about — especially when it's clear they don't understand the issue at all, just as they think of whatever I may say in response. No one is listening. I think everyone is afraid to listen because it it all just too much. That's why your direct "Midwestern" way of speaking plain truth is so refreshing and cuts through. Keep it up, please. Thank you.
Thank you Jess. We can't continue to elect folks who only listen to themselves. I hear you. Folks like you will help all of us move this country and world in the right direction.
I'm a bit obsessed with words, so I just looked up the etymology of wind turbine. Essentially, windmill is commonly used as a synonym.
If you can understand what someone is saying to you, what is the point of derailing the conversation by getting huffy about vocabulary?
I also wanted to say, I live in a majority Democratic state, and while it's true that our representatives speak to us more about what they think is important than asking our opinions, it's up to all of us to demand answers for our concerns.
Lastly, regarding the Epstein list, we all know someone who has been sexually abused, whether as a child or adult, whether they are female or male. We just might not know which of our family members or friends or acquaintances that is.
It's important to release the list because no one who is on it should hold public office. Of any kind. No names means no action can be taken.
I completely agree with you about the Epstein list. It just seems like we are laser focused on an issue that can’t be resolved until we get the Republicans out of office. And we can only get the Republicans out of office when we listen to voters —solidarity.
In “we are laser focused on the issue”, who is the “we”?
I don’t know what the right amount of focus is, but it seems across that Democratic spectrum some make it a big focus a la Ro Khanna and others don’t talk about it and when asked connect Epstein to corruption, pardon selling, and tax cuts for the rich. But maybe that perspective is just a reflection of my media consumption and not reality.
Outstanding Jess, thank you. Should be a wakeup call for the Democratic campaign hierarchy, but, since the consultants and pundits get paid win or lose, probably won't be. We'll just keep at it, turn a few districts, grow a few candidates where none had been before and get it done the hard way which, as you point out, can actually be the easy way if we just listen.
Excellent piece. I completely agree it is important to listen to people’s concerns, not to get them to agree with ours.
We are in danger of following the MAGA playbook of shouting people down and abusing them. It is easy to use dog-whistle words and phrases and use debating ploys, rather than have thoughtful discussions like you are trying to do.
Here in Maine, where a lot of our state is rural--we have a new Executive Director for the Maine Dems. She's from a fishing family and she's a straight talker. She is great. I am going to forward your post to her (I think she's already on top of this) but how do we get those DNC folks to listen?
My mom grew up in rural Missouri (Granby) in a large (essentially subsistance) farming family but left to marry my dad (a New Yorker), who was a soldier who she met at an amusement park in Tulsa, during WWII. Most of her family are Rs (family visits got hard) but there are a few Ds-including my cousins who live in a nearby town, and when leaving their Southern Baptist church after the minister told the congregation that they shouldn't vote for Obama for racist reasons, told their minister that there was separation of church and state for a reason, what he said was appalling, and that they would not be back. The people leaving the church behind them thanked them for speaking out and said they wished they had had the courage to do the same. I hope I find the courage I need in these times.
I probably should’ve included it in my essay, but the people I listen to and speak to are rural Democrats. Progressives living in rural spaces. It is very rare that a republican would attend one of my speaking events. My essays reflect what rural Democrats have to say.
Which is perfect - because for years, National Democrats (urged by highly paid consultants?) have denied support to almost any elections where they couldn't guarantee a win. ("They've got some 'splainin' to do"! even though Ricky Ricardo never actually said that!) I am so grateful for your example, and pray that my work with LeavingMAGA.org offers some support to that work. PS I'm sending your substack to two of my DC area friends - one is now living in MO full time and the other has a sister living there!
Eloquent is speaking in a way your audience can understand. You nail it every time. Keep speaking. Keep writing. Don't give up. Thank you for all you do.
Besides Jess, today I also benefitted from reading Ezra Klein's NYT piece for September 7 on what the Democrats need to do in the coming budget vote (i.e., use the power of the purse to shut our proto-authoritarian government down plus choose bold new leaders) and William Kristol's and Ryan Goodman's far-reaching Bulwark conversation on the many and far-reaching implications of the administration's apparent murder of eleven souls off the coast of Venezuela. My mind feels like one of physicist Gerald Zacharias' frictionless pucks bouncing seemingly randomly off the four sides of a pocketless pool table. (Plus realizing that my pharmacist was as much out of the loop about government "advice" concerning vaccinations as I, an 89-year-older, when I inquired of her yesterday how I should approach my fall flu and COVID vaccinations!) Good for you, Jess, Far less important than what we call windmills is spreading widely understandings that they and solar panels are so important to recapturing a sustainable climate for the rising generations who come after us having resumed tracking our place on the moral arc of the American democratic experiment.
You point out one of the major ways the Democratic Party needs to evolve or die a thousand deaths at the ballot box. I appreciate your columns because they always remind me to stop and check myself. I want to be reminded about people. All people. It helps me. Thank you.
MLRGRMI, I hear you on the "stop and check myself" part.
And the Republican Party can just continue the way they are and not evolve? The Grand Old Party does not exist any longer. Sometimes you hear a whimper out of them, and they "privately" say what they really think, otherwise they just follow along like robots. I have run out of adjectives to describe GOP "lawmakers and law breakers".
I'm not rural and I call them windmills! It is just pretentious to quibble about that. Democrats--too many of them-- are totally out of touch with real people.
It is not that anyone is out of touch with the real people they know. It is the people one does not know, and the only way to know them is by listening to them and engaging with them. Not everyone has the same concerns and not everyone will see the same solutions. And some people will not listen even when you are prepared to listen to them, although others in the same place and at the same time will.
This is a very deep concern. I'm in touch with a very cross-discipinary field, neuropsychoanalysis. One of the fascinating things to watch in it is how much effort it takes and how rewarding it is, to stop and think what someone actually means by what they say. They speak out of their own experience and from the terms used in their own disciplines. And it is a stretch to understand sometimes what they mean. (For them as well as for me, the observer not working in any part of the field.) As an example of this, here is a link to a discussion between Karl Friston and Mark Solms. Mark says that he is concerned they may agree on everything and that might make it useless to have the discussion, but in fact, as he points out, they DO agree. But if you listen to it, they speak almost from different worlds, so it doesn't sound as though they do. -- A few minutes of this will be enough to show that, no need to go on and on with it unless you get interested in it. But for me the point is that they do know they agree, although on the surface it seems they are saying different things entirely. Karl Friston & Mark Solms: Is it Possible to Engineer Artificial Consciousness?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jtp426wQ-JI
Will review. Much thanks for sharing.
I call them windmills. Most people I come in contact with and media do as well. Jess you have taught (reminded me) we as people have the same needs and concerns. A home, affordable food, health care, safety for our kids. All in our immediate needs for a comfortable life. Just the basics. Thank you for sharing those concerns and listening.
Nancy, who said that jerk was a democrat? Just a guess, but I bet he is a MAGA republican.
But there are insecure snobby know-it-alls in both parties. But this one didn’t know it all—wind turbines are windmills.
I was responding to statements Jess made, such as this one. I do make far too many assumptions these days but I try hard not to!
"I was immediately berated by a fellow progressive for using the word “windmill.” "
I agree wholeheartedly, with the proviso that "real people" and "trump voters" is not synonymous.
I actually know some people who are otherwise very kind, caring people who voted for the despot (I don't write or speak his name). Because, as they explained to me "abortion" and "I'm Republican." They cannot be convinced their vote has long-term implications for our democracy. If the Christofascists get their way, we won't have elections anymore and no votes will matter.
Actually, as the playbook goes, there will be "elections" where they will get great majorities. Like what happens in Russia.
I really relate to your comment. I hear those same rationalizations: one issue and almost genetically vote Republican. It is beyond frustrating for those voters to relegate the destruction of our country to meaningless beside their only concern (which in the case of destroying women's rights only makes me angrier). I don't confront them because I believe it is hopeless, but I cannot avoid having no respect and only disdain for them. Those are the kind of people who are the downfall of our nation. I get it that one ought to try to listen to them, but hearing them only makes my anger worse.
Scott - I truly get not wanting to subject yourself to "talking with a brick wall," which is only more infuriating. There are a few people, however, with whom I have long friendships, who I have decided not to walk away from. I have chosen not to try to convince them their choices impact others. Rather, I want them to see me when the impacts become real in my life. When, as a lesbian woman in a 38-year loving partnership (8-years married) my civil rights are once again taken away from us. Their, "oh, that won't happen" response is so exasperating, when it's happening already. And Alito & Thomas have already signaled it, just like Project 2025 signaled the Christofascist plans that are now our reality. I want them to see someone they know live with the results of their choices. And maybe, just maybe, they will connect the dots? When they say, "I didn't vote for that," I will respond with, "Yes, you did and I tried to tell you, but you were too concerned about protecting your white, wealthy, evangelical, supposed Christian identity." Yes. I get angry about it!
Also: what condescending jerks.
Yep, they are windmills to me too
As a psychologist, half my job is listening. It's actually curative because people like to feel heard. They also like to feel validated even if you don't agree with them. That's why your deft handling of the angry Iowa man let him leave calmly instead of in a tizzy. Democratic politicians must learn to listen and validate. As the old saying goes, they will forget what you said but they'll never forget how you made them feel. And that's what will guide their hand in the voting booth.
Misty, I am a retired deputy sheriff. I was selected to be a hostage* negotiator because I can communicate well verbally. It took me a lot of time, energy, and effort to learn how to listen (it was not an easy journey for me.) I ended up developing training for other negotiators along those lines; one of my tools was the "human design clue: 2 ears, 1 mouth. Listening is twice as important as talking." I also doubled up as a peer support team member as part of our CISM team, and developed another avenue of training "You have to hear what people are saying, what they are NOT saying, and how they are doing or not doing that."
I got to be (no modesty here) pretty good at it. I then had an opportunity to watch my wife (also a clinical psychologist) work. I was a seasonal creek. She is the Mississippi.
*The more current term is Crisis Negotiator, because there are 99 crisis calls for every 1 true hostage call.
A new description - a seasonal stream vs the Mississippi. I hadn’t heard that before, but I could use it quite regularly. Thanks for sharing your story Ally.
Love this, girl. See my comment at the very top in response to Gena Vihage. (Sp?)
That is the frustrating point. Republicans are good at making people feel listened to while not actually doing anything. I understand the necessity to do this if you want to win, but making it sound like Democrats are not listening to what rural Americans want and acting on their economic issues, is nonsense. (Infrastructure act, CHIPs act ...).
And by the way, its the same issues for me and lot of other urban people.
It's not about listening and then legislating on those issues, it's about listening and making someone feel they have been listened to.
Sage response
I've been out here on my little "farm" in SW Iowa too isolated I guess. I really am watching and following the disaster that is happening to your state, my state, and our experiment in self-governance, our country. I show up to most protests. I have come to my own conclusions, independently and, I think, critically.
Jess, when in the world did what I've always called windmills turn into turbines? People are angry if you say windmills? Sheesh. I like the fact that we are using the wind to power Iowa.
The guy that got so angry and walked out has been victimized by propaganda, in my view.
The people all pissy about calling them windmills are missing the big picture here and really not focused on what is important.
Keep up the good work.
Keep telling our rural story.
Bigjimbok, I love this: "victimized by propaganda". So accurate!!
When I start a conversation with a voter, I always start with open ended questions designed to get them to tell me where they are and what they are thinking about. “As we begin to approach next year’s elections, how are you doing?” Or, “Given all the divisions we face in our community, what are your you thinking the most about?” Or, “How are you sleeping lately? Is there anything keeping you up at night?”
Importantly, after asking that open ended question, shut up and wait for an answer. Then ask another open ended question like, “Why does that matter to you?” Or, “What are your thoughts about that?”
Give people space to talk and listen to them. Then mirror those thoughts with your own. “That bothers me a lot too. Or, I think about that a lot too.” Then tell a personal story about how that impacts you or someone else. Give them a chance to tell their experiences or that of a family member or friend.
The purpose of these kind of conversations is to show that their is common ground on what you are experiencing with someone else and that you can listen and agree on something as equals. It is neighbors talking to neighbors about what they share instead of something they do not share.
I discovered by accident the power of simple curiosity about what someone knows or says. I just wanted this obnoxious person to stop berating and preaching (they were! there was so much anger in their voice) that I just started asking simple, open-ended questions about what they thought and how they thought things worked and what they were interested in. And it stopped all the angry atmosphere! It also taught me a lot about how they were thinking, which was interesting in itself.
Bruce, those kinds of open-ended questions born of genuine curiosity, and waiting to hear answers, are what real conversations are. Most of us, myself too-often included, are so anxious to express our own thoughts that we just can't wait to hear someone else's. And that's not just a D or R problem, it's a human problem. Sigh.
Excellent coaching there, B!
Much to my amazement it's not what keeps me up at night but what keeps me driving hard virtually all day -- which is what makes me sleep pretty well, actually. But my days can be really oppressive . . .
Thanks for the tips!
I used to live in Van Wert, OH, a small town just off US30 in farm country. The fields are seemingly endless. I grew up on an NC tobacco farm and was so glad I did not have to work in those endless cornfields in NW Ohio. My last trip through Van Wert was enlightening. Windmills dotted farm fields all along the highway. The land was still being farmed. Those windmills are or were a stable source of income for that farm family. Prices for commodities fluctuate, but bills and debts keep coming. Lord knows, the current regime is not helping rural communities.
Van Wert is named for my ancestor Isaac Van Wert! He, along with others, captured British Major John Andre in the Revolution, which led to the downfall of Benedict Arnold and his traitorous plan.
Yes! And I am sick and tried of hearing people on the right telling me what I should be concerned about — especially when it's clear they don't understand the issue at all, just as they think of whatever I may say in response. No one is listening. I think everyone is afraid to listen because it it all just too much. That's why your direct "Midwestern" way of speaking plain truth is so refreshing and cuts through. Keep it up, please. Thank you.
Thank you Jess. We can't continue to elect folks who only listen to themselves. I hear you. Folks like you will help all of us move this country and world in the right direction.
A powerful message there, Jess.
I'm a bit obsessed with words, so I just looked up the etymology of wind turbine. Essentially, windmill is commonly used as a synonym.
If you can understand what someone is saying to you, what is the point of derailing the conversation by getting huffy about vocabulary?
I also wanted to say, I live in a majority Democratic state, and while it's true that our representatives speak to us more about what they think is important than asking our opinions, it's up to all of us to demand answers for our concerns.
Lastly, regarding the Epstein list, we all know someone who has been sexually abused, whether as a child or adult, whether they are female or male. We just might not know which of our family members or friends or acquaintances that is.
It's important to release the list because no one who is on it should hold public office. Of any kind. No names means no action can be taken.
I completely agree with you about the Epstein list. It just seems like we are laser focused on an issue that can’t be resolved until we get the Republicans out of office. And we can only get the Republicans out of office when we listen to voters —solidarity.
I can see that. It seems like we're living through Ben Franklin's warning about hanging separately. I hope we can get it together.
In “we are laser focused on the issue”, who is the “we”?
I don’t know what the right amount of focus is, but it seems across that Democratic spectrum some make it a big focus a la Ro Khanna and others don’t talk about it and when asked connect Epstein to corruption, pardon selling, and tax cuts for the rich. But maybe that perspective is just a reflection of my media consumption and not reality.
Outstanding Jess, thank you. Should be a wakeup call for the Democratic campaign hierarchy, but, since the consultants and pundits get paid win or lose, probably won't be. We'll just keep at it, turn a few districts, grow a few candidates where none had been before and get it done the hard way which, as you point out, can actually be the easy way if we just listen.
Excellent piece. I completely agree it is important to listen to people’s concerns, not to get them to agree with ours.
We are in danger of following the MAGA playbook of shouting people down and abusing them. It is easy to use dog-whistle words and phrases and use debating ploys, rather than have thoughtful discussions like you are trying to do.
Infrastructure act, CHIPs act and others. Democrats ARE listening and acting on people's concerns.
You are dead on. In my experience, people listen to what you have to say because you listen to them.
Here in Maine, where a lot of our state is rural--we have a new Executive Director for the Maine Dems. She's from a fishing family and she's a straight talker. She is great. I am going to forward your post to her (I think she's already on top of this) but how do we get those DNC folks to listen?
Thank you, friend
My mom grew up in rural Missouri (Granby) in a large (essentially subsistance) farming family but left to marry my dad (a New Yorker), who was a soldier who she met at an amusement park in Tulsa, during WWII. Most of her family are Rs (family visits got hard) but there are a few Ds-including my cousins who live in a nearby town, and when leaving their Southern Baptist church after the minister told the congregation that they shouldn't vote for Obama for racist reasons, told their minister that there was separation of church and state for a reason, what he said was appalling, and that they would not be back. The people leaving the church behind them thanked them for speaking out and said they wished they had had the courage to do the same. I hope I find the courage I need in these times.