We're making some great connections, Rural Democrats!
In some way or another, we've connected and had conversations with grassroot rural Democrats in W. Virginia, Oregon, Ohio, Texas, Oklahoma, Montana and S. Dakota - asking questions, brainstorming and trading state GOP horror stories. Each state may have different political dynamics but there's two things we all agree on:
- Rural voters will be the driving force in winning elections.
- Young rural voters are issue driven.
Some young rural voters are "joiners" but there's a whole lot that's not. They will vote for the candidate that aligns with the "issues" they believe in. The kind of information and connections we're making and in turn, sharing with our membership is exactly what we need to keep building on a rural coalition and flip seats! Which brings us to the next topic...
MDP Chair Russ Carnahan shared this article with us: Montana Democrats want to contest more local races : NPR and we found ourselves nodding as we read the article. "When you do not even have a presence, you don't even have a heartbeat in large swaths of a particular state, you're just on the way to a steep decline." We need to print off that one sentence, stick it on the fridge so we can read it umpteen times every day. It's epic.
The 2024 Candidate list Missouri Candidates 2023 - 2024 - Google Sheets is growing which is fantastic! We're working on the forum and what it needs or should look like. In a couple of weeks, we'll send out an informational email to all the candidates to give them our ideas and get feedback. If you have contact info on the hi-lighted candidates, please update the spreadsheet.
Case in point...this past week, after hearing a certain candidate (the one with all the indictments) blame "liberal Jews" for all of America's problems, GOP Sen. Bill Eigel who is running for MO governor, and MO GOP State Sen. Nick Schroer, used flamethrowers to torch a stack of boxes at a fundraising event: Republican candidate for Missouri governor vows to burn books | The Kansas City Star. Although Eigel and Schroer are boo-hooing about the blowback, the symbolism is stark.