Democrats and rural voters.

[Mina]

The NYT has an article looking at why Democrats are failing to win with rural voters:

Opinion | What Democrats Don’t Understand About Rural America

The only way for the party to regain traction in rural places is by running strong campaigns in districts that usually back Republicans.

www.nytimes.com

I wanted to speak specifically to one thing in the story, where a rural woman in Maine said that she'd been
undecided between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump until Election Day but voted for Mr. Trump because, she said, at the Republican convention, he talked about regular American working people and Ms. Clinton didn’t at her convention.

So, is that true? We know exactly what each said:

Full transcript of Donald Trump’s acceptance speech at the RNC

"In this race for the White House, I am the Law And Order candidate."

www.vox.com

Opinion | What Democrats Don’t Understand About Rural America

The only way for the party to regain traction in rural places is by running strong campaigns in districts that usually back Republicans.

www.nytimes.com

Each candidate spoke of "working people." Hillary Clinton did so four times, Trump once. For Trump, it was a one-liner about how his father (an infamous slum lord) taught him to respect working people. For Clinton, there was a line echoing Biden's statement of the party's commitment to working people, then a line introducing a whole section of the speech dealing with what her plans were for helping working people in the country to get ahead and stay ahead. Then a line saying Democrats are the party of working people, then a bit about how Trump's business record involved him repeatedly refusing to pay his bills to contractors, leaving working people holding the bag.

Talking about the struggles of working people and what the government could do to help was the central theme of Hillary Clinton's speech:

"I’ve gone around our country talking to working families. And I’ve heard from so many of you who feel like the economy just isn’t working. Some of you are frustrated – even furious. And you know what??? You’re right. It’s not yet working the way it should. Americans are willing to work – and work hard. But right now, an awful lot of people feel there is less and less respect for the work they do. And less respect for them, period. Democrats are the party of working people. But we haven’t done a good enough job showing that we get what you’re going through, and that we’re going to do something about it. So I want to tell you tonight how we will empower Americans to live better lives. My primary mission as President will be to create more opportunity and more good jobs with rising wages right here in the United States… From my first day in office to my last! Especially in places that for too long have been left out and left behind. From our inner cities to our small towns, from Indian Country to Coal Country. From communities ravaged by addiction to regions hollowed out by plant closures..... Whatever party you belong to, or if you belong to no party at all, if you share these beliefs, this is your campaign. If you believe that companies should share profits with their workers, not pad executive bonuses, join us. If you believe the minimum wage should be a living wage… and no one working full time should have to raise their children in poverty… join us. If you believe that every man, woman, and child in America has the right to affordable health care…join us....
And yes, if you believe that your working mother, wife, sister, or daughter deserves equal pay… join us… Let’s make sure this economy works for everyone, not just those at the top.

Again and again she spoke about working people -- her own mother working as a house maid age age 14, hard-working immigrants, those with hopes of starting a small business who can't get bank loans to finance their dreams, and so on. She then went through a long list of specific plans, all built around the needs of working people.

Trump, by comparison, was five pages into his speech before he even got around to talking about jobs. His speech focused first and most on "violence in the streets and chaos in our communities." Time and again, it was about "terrorism and lawlessness." His promises were focused not around economic ideas but rather "appointing the best prosecutors and law enforcement," while fighting immigration.

So, I think we can say with confidence that the interviewed rural woman was lying about why she chose to vote for Trump. As a simple matter of FACT, Hillary Clinton spoke far more extensively about working people than Trump did. Trump ran on fear -- fear of Black people running wild in inner cities, fear of Hispanic immigrants, and fear of Muslim terrorists. That was the core theme of his speech, and that's what won over the rural voters.

 

[Mina]

My apologies for putting this one in the wrong forum.