We say very clearly that rural America is hurting. But we refuse to justify attitudes that some scholars try to underplay.
Something remarkable happened among rural whites between the 2016 and 2020 elections: According to the Pew Research CenterāsĀ validated voter study, as the rest of the country moved away from Donald Trump, rural whites lurched toward him by nine points, from 62 percent to 71 percent support. And among the 100 counties where Trump performed best in 2016, almost all of them small and rural, he got a higher percentage of the vote in 91 of them in 2020. Yet Trumpās extraordinary rural white supportāthe most important story in rural politics in decadesāis something many scholars and commentators are reluctant to explore in an honest way.
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What isnāt said enough is that rural whites are being told to blame all the wrong people for their very real problems. As we argue in the book, Hollywood liberals didnāt destroy the family farm, college professors didnāt move manufacturing jobs overseas, immigrants didnāt pour opioids into rural communities, and critical race theory didnāt close hundreds of rural hospitals. When Republican politicians and the conservative media tell rural whites to aim their anger at those targets, itās so they wonāt ask why the people they keep electing havenāt done anything to improve life in their communities.
Iām sorry Iām confused. Are you saying because Iām convinced a person is a piece of shit that makes me biased?
Your hatred has blinded you to objective reality. Either Biden or Trump will be president. There is no third option in our current system. Which is the worse choice?
I will vote for neither. I will be voting 3rd party. I will not reward the people who keep forcing me into deciding between two steaming shitbags. Donāt like it? Do better next time.
You make things better by voting for the better of the two options. Pretending there is a third option is just ignorance.
Biden hasnāt made things better. Heās made things worse at a slower speed. The only people benefiting from that are Boomers who donāt understand the urgency of turning things around. All they want is for us to prop up the status quo until they can die peacefully. They donāt care what happens to the rest of us.
That doesnāt change the fact that there are only two choices. Which is better, Biden or Trump?
I donāt care. You want my vote? Get a better candidate through the primaries next time or at least someone whoās willing to make material compromises with leftists and progressives.
I didnāt vote for Biden in the 2020 primaries. How he does in the general election isnāt my responsibility. Ask the people who voted for him in the primaries what their plan was.
So you have no preference to whether Biden or Trump is president?
Iām saying Iād rather die than make that choice.