Reply #49: It's more than that, I think

[BlueInRed]

My hometown, Fort Worth, used to be solidly Democratic a decade and a half ago. Now Ft. Worth isn't rural, although people here like to pretend it is. The issues that moved a lot of people in Fort Worth were lower taxes, fiscal responsibiity, less big government, strong defense, hard on crime, those sorts of things. I was around as the shift was happening a decade and a half ago. Terrorism just wasn't on anyone's radar. I never heard people talking about gays. I knew a few people all in a knot on abortion, but really not that many. But they all switched to Republican, nonetheless. And I mean Fort Worth was solidly Democratic and now it's solidly Republican (like 60-70%).

Now, in Lubbock, it is a different story. You are right about guns and trade being issues - they care about getting farm goods (cotton, etc) on trucks from Canada to Mexico. And as for terrorism, I do think it scares a lot of the small town people. They are used to leaving their doors unlocked at night and stuff like that, and the stuff that happened on 911 is probably unimaginable to them.

I guess I think the buzzword "values" is really code language for "one of us". I don't think it's necessary to abandon our positions on abortion and civil unions to win them back. I don't think it's pandering to care about their concerns and try to address them, as long as we don't abandon our core positions. And I think the stereotypes of rural people are misleading; the reality is far more complicated.

We need to recognize how a few minor changes in the way we frame issues and the qualities we look for in a nominee could make a huge difference in the outcome. It may not seem like a big deal to those not from rural areas, but it is a big deal to them. I don't think the party should become Republican light, but we should pay attention to how simple things like relating to people can make a difference.