I think you're right about the rural proletariat. These folks have been abandoned by the Democratic Party for so long that they have been inculcated by the right to see the left as a financial and cultural elite which offers them no solutions aside from smugly telling them to "learn to code" while fawning over grifters like J.D. Vance who blame the struggles rural Americans on their own cultural and moralistic failings. Winning these people over is not something which can be accomplished by an election, nor any political project spanning the lifetime of an electoral campaign. It is going to require a long term struggle. It is going to require the growth of an entire counterculture. I believe a key part of this though will be in distinguishing ourselves from the liberalism which passes for left politics in this country. There needs to be an alternate mode of opposition to the status quo from the knee-jerk reaction offered by the right.
That is what makes this tough though, because running as Democrats in the long run will only tie us closer to this absolute failure of a party. In general I wouldn't view supporting Democratic campaigns as a productive way of converting people to the left. If we win, the party still holds so much sway throughout the legislature and media that they can tarnish and co-opt any of our leaders. On the other hand, the ability to go out campaigning with the message that "no, these people are shit too" and build towards a true alternative can be useful. We're at a crossroads where it is really about time we had our own party and cut ties to the Democrats completely.
This sounds good to me.
I think you're right about the rural proletariat. These folks have been abandoned by the Democratic Party for so long that they have been inculcated by the right to see the left as a financial and cultural elite which offers them no solutions aside from smugly telling them to "learn to code" while fawning over grifters like J.D. Vance who blame the struggles rural Americans on their own cultural and moralistic failings. Winning these people over is not something which can be accomplished by an election, nor any political project spanning the lifetime of an electoral campaign. It is going to require a long term struggle. It is going to require the growth of an entire counterculture. I believe a key part of this though will be in distinguishing ourselves from the liberalism which passes for left politics in this country. There needs to be an alternate mode of opposition to the status quo from the knee-jerk reaction offered by the right.
That is what makes this tough though, because running as Democrats in the long run will only tie us closer to this absolute failure of a party. In general I wouldn't view supporting Democratic campaigns as a productive way of converting people to the left. If we win, the party still holds so much sway throughout the legislature and media that they can tarnish and co-opt any of our leaders. On the other hand, the ability to go out campaigning with the message that "no, these people are shit too" and build towards a true alternative can be useful. We're at a crossroads where it is really about time we had our own party and cut ties to the Democrats completely.