{"id":571344,"date":"2023-04-22T19:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-04-22T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/progressive-democrat-brings-pitch-to-rural-america\/"},"modified":"2023-04-22T19:00:00","modified_gmt":"2023-04-22T16:00:00","slug":"progressive-democrat-brings-pitch-to-rural-america","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/progressive-democrat-brings-pitch-to-rural-america\/","title":{"rendered":"#Progressive Democrat brings pitch to rural America"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/10\/AP22251065896129.jpg?w=900\" \/><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>DES MOINES, Iowa \u2014 Democrats have watched in dismay as voters in rural and old industrial strongholds say they want more of what the Republican Party is offering, resisting the establishment\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>roach to win them back and raising questions about their party\u2019s strategy.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>One progressive \u2014 a suited-up, camera-ready U.S. congressman from California \u2014 is determined to try a different approach to pique their interest.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr1_ab\"><\/aside>\n<p>Seated in a dimly lit hotel conference room in Des Moines, far from his hub Silicon Valley and Washington, D.C., work base, Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) believes there\u2019s something Democrats get wrong about voters around here.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOne of the things that is a stereotype in my view against rural Americans is this view somehow that they don\u2019t understand what\u2019s happening in the world,\u201d Khanna told The Hill. \u201cThey get it. They understand what\u2019s changing the economy. They understand we\u2019re in an economy where <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/technology\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"4\" title=\"Technology\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">technology<\/a> really matters.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>There is a ton of demand for new kinds of jobs, and residents are dying to innovate. They want the education, training and skills that come from industries of the future, and they want to be compensated accordingly. They aren\u2019t afraid of Big Tech. If Democrats can offer that, he believes voters will listen and the party will be rewarded at the ballot box.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn my district, when there\u2019s a town hall, 80 percent of hands go up saying they\u2019re optimistic about America. That\u2019s not the case in many other communities,\u201d Khanna said. \u201cYou know what they resent? That their kids don\u2019t have the opportunity that the kids in my district do.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Khanna\u2019s been on a mission beyond the Beltway to change that. Elected in the district where tech giants dominate, the liberal House member sees his position, both geographically and politically,\u00a0as unique. He\u2019s a progressive\u00a0who likes to use that label.\u00a0But unlike some of his contemporaries\u00a0on the left, he\u2019s not crusading against the tech sector. He\u00a0rather\u00a0sees the industry as a key piece to restoring some of America\u2019s most prized places to their original\u00a0luster.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf we bring economic opportunity, if we have a renewal of American production, if we make America a manufacturing superpower again, which we can with technology,\u201d he said, \u201cthen we can start to bring this country together in ways that have fractured it.\u201d<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr2_ab\"><\/aside>\n<p>It\u2019s an ambitious pitch. In places like Des Moines, politicians from both sides of the aisle fly in and out each presidential cycle, shaking hands and retailing with residents, but they don\u2019t stay long. Khanna wants to leave a different kind of imprint \u2014 one that requires a strong presence from his district\u2019s biggest strength.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>He\u2019s not running for president this cycle and is supporting President Biden\u2019s\u00a0anticipated bid for re-election in 2024. Some\u00a0locals wonder why a Democrat like him would\u00a0even\u00a0come here after the caucus is no longer expected to be the first\u00a0voting state on the calendar.<\/p>\n<p>Driving downtown, one Iowa resident remarked that he used to be a Democrat, but that the party left him, rather than the other way around. Democrats have struggled\u00a0to pull\u00a0those types of voters away from the GOP.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr3_ab\"><\/aside>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s sad to me that we\u2019ve let Donald Trump take the manufacturing message when we have the real substance,\u201d Khanna said.<\/p>\n<p>Here and in places like Pennsylvania, where Khanna also recently visited\u00a0as part of a multi-state tour,\u00a0he hopes to connect with communities daring to ask for something they say the party\u2019s not delivering.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s clear that\u00a0a sizable group of people\u00a0want something new. The state went for both Trump in 2020 and voted for Kim Reynolds, a Republican, for governor\u00a0this November,\u00a0cementing a trend that had been forming for years.\u00a0<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr4_ab\"><\/aside>\n<p>\u201cTo some extent, Trump speaking about the loss of manufacturing jobs is what resonated in parts of the industrial midwest and the south,\u201d Khanna said. \u201cBut what we need to say is: He had four years.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Democrats, for their part, have focused heavily on <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">social<\/a> and cultural issues.\u00a0The results have been up and down.\u00a0They lost seats in some traditionally blue places like New York during the midterms, but also made headway in battlegrounds like Wisconsin over the issue of abortion, which has galvanized their base.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019ve got to stop talking like technocrats, academics, social justice warriors or bland bureaucrats,\u201d said Anthony Flaccavento, a rural development expert and author of \u201cThe Rural Progressive Platform.\u201d<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr5_ab\"><\/aside>\n<p>Democrats need to \u201cstart showing up much more than we have for the past few decades,\u201d Flaccavento said, who lives in an Appalachian area of Virginia.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat means year-round engagement, particularly doing helpful stuff in local rural communities,\u201d he said. \u201cConsistently showing up as good neighbors to solve local problems will help us rebuild trust, which is essential.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Some Democrats are urging\u00a0members of\u00a0their party to emphasize more\u00a0tangible things like showing ways to create\u00a0generational wealth and building a strong financial future. They believe that with an economic message like that, voters can be persuaded to think differently about the party in power.\u00a0<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr6_ab\"><\/aside>\n<p>That\u2019s the hope for MD Isley, an educator who caucuses regularly for Democrats but sees holes in the party\u2019s approach. Last primary, he was inspired by Pete Buttigieg, the former South Bend mayor who now serves as Transportation secretary, as a possible new direction for Democrats, but admits to being freshly inspired by Khanna\u2019s progressive\u00a0ideas.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s not just because he\u2019s here with us today,\u201d said Isley. \u201cDemocrats\u00a0should be paying direct attention to the work Congressman Khanna is\u00a0doing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRural Iowa is unique and valuable and core to our history of the state and the midwest. Metro areas within Iowa are also key, very important economic drivers,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr7_ab\"><\/aside>\n<p>Despite the obvious electoral\u00a0ramifications,\u00a0national Democrats are often puzzled by their party\u2019s inability to bring more voters from rural and former manufacturing towns over to their side. Some critique flaws within their platform, arguing they need to offer voters more social safety net programs, health care, affordable housing, education and the like.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Democrats \u201cdo not understand rural areas and buy into the argument that rural is hopeless, a downward spiral of dysfunction fueled by bigotry, xenophobia and outmoded thinking. This characterization is false, and it has helped Dems feel justified in either ignoring or denigrating rural people and places,\u201d said Flaccavento.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSome of the most innovative new economic, civic, cultural and media strategies in the country are emerging in small towns and rural communities, but most Dems know nothing of it,\u201d he added.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Khanna\u2019s alignment with the tech sector distinguishes him from progressives like Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), who has been critical of the industry\u2019s influence. While Khanna is clear-eyed about areas for improvement, such as privacy and data protection, he believes it offers the party opportunities as well. \u00a0<\/p>\n<p>A glimpse into that vision for Democrats was\u00a0recently on display,\u00a0when several dozen young people engaged in a discussion around a new tech development and career training program.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The initiative,\u00a0dubbed the Techwise program in partnership with TalentSprint Inc.,\u00a0combines the hiring power of Google with students at Des Moines Area Community College and other community colleges in areas\u00a0with less of a natural link to the tech world.\u00a0It\u2019s intended to propel students into specific early tech careers like software engineering after just 18 months.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is a big step for us, we can be the first ones in our family to do this,\u201d said Ryan, a 20-year-old student from Ankeny, one of\u00a0many\u00a0students participating across\u00a0several\u00a0schools\u00a0nationally.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Ryan, like other students here, wants a sustainable path toward economic prosperity. A political independent, he said he looks for growth messages when vetting candidates. \u201cI want to feel secure in my future financially,\u201d he said, adding that he hopes to hear new ideas that \u201cwould help me and hopefully my future family come up in the world, economically.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He wants Democrats to focus on \u201cmore local communities. More people like me,\u201d\u00a0he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Another student, 19-year-old Adam, a Republican, said he\u00a0hopes\u00a0the hiring discussion for jobs for the\u00a0future goes beyond\u00a0the bigger states like California and metropolitan centers.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s talent everywhere in the world,\u201d he said. \u201cYou just have to go find it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As the next presidential cycle ramps up and Democrats start fine-tuning their strategy, Republicans are eager to grab votes from the margins. They see messages around identity and culture wars as ways to attack the other side.<\/p>\n<p>Khanna, along with other outspoken progressives in the House, also believes Democrats need to look beyond social issues.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>While he\u2019s reluctant to pitch himself as the right messenger \u2014 or even the right person to give Biden a nudge on\u00a0election strategy\u00a0\u2014 others are increasingly looking to him.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRep. Khanna, I hope, will highlight many of these innovative businesses and strategies,\u201d Flaccavento said.<\/p>\n<p>At 46, Khanna\u2019s a lot younger than members of his party\u2019s leadership. Biden is 80 and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), for whom Khanna served as a campaign co-chair in 2020, is 81. He\u2019s also Indian American.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Like Sanders, he\u2019s not afraid to go where other Democrats\u00a0have sometimes skipped over.\u00a0Sanders won parts of the midwest against Hillary Clinton in 2016 \u2014 including nearly beating her in the Iowa caucus and pulling off a meteoric win in Michigan \u2014 by outlining a populist economic agenda that was previously more muted within the party. Khanna, too, believes it\u2019s not enough to reach just Democrats, but rather to expand to\u00a0other\u00a0electorates searching for\u00a0new kinds of\u00a0jobs and chances to be forward-looking about their work.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPeople say, how can you be a Bernie Sanders co-chair and go on Fox [<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News<\/a>] and have people listen to you?\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s because I don\u2019t go on there and just hurl insults.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Where Sanders had economic populism and Trump had \u201cAmerica First,\u201d Khanna has coined \u201ca new economic patriotism,\u201d\u00a0a merging of the sort of upward mobility people strive for and the values that drive their lives at home.<\/p>\n<p>And it\u2019s not just the industrial midwest that many believe needs Democrats\u2019 attention. Just hours after sitting down for a bowl of cajun gumbo at Bubba, a southern style restaurant downtown, Khanna and a close adviser were off to South Carolina, another\u00a0hotspot\u00a0for Democrats that is often lost to Republicans in <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/general\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"3\" title=\"General\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">general<\/a> elections.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Khanna fundamentally believes he has the right prescription for the moment. It\u2019s not a midwestern thing or a southern thing, but rather a transferring of values that have somehow gotten lost\u00a0in the mix.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Democratic Party has to speak loudly, boldly, clearly about that,\u201d he said, listing off core values like making sure people have the right to vote and women have autonomy over their bodies and healthcare decisions, and that the judicial process is fair.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn addition to that,\u201d he stressed, \u201cwe need to have a second sentence.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat are we going to do for folks to bring economic opportunity? What are we going to do to bring manufacturing back? What are we going to do to bring the technology and prosperity in my district to places that have been left behind?\u201d he pressed.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Next month, Khanna heads to New Hampshire, where top party officials know him as a regular.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy I want President Biden to succeed is because that makes a progressive movement more possible,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd I do think that we\u2019re going to see for the next 20 years, after Biden, progressive nominees of the party.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more News articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/news\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/homenews\/house\/3963448-progressive-ro-khanna-brings-pitch-to-rural-america\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>DES MOINES, Iowa \u2014 Democrats have watched in dismay as voters in rural and old industrial strongholds say they want more of what the Republican Party is offering, resisting the establishment\u2019s approach to win them back and raising questions about their party\u2019s strategy.\u00a0 One progressive \u2014 a suited-up, camera-ready U.S. congressman from California \u2014 is&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":571345,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thehill.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/10\/AP22251065896129.jpg?w=1280","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[70897],"tags":[134417,134343,134447,80445,90482,71681,134354,136404,134345,42873],"class_list":["post-571344","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-blog-briefing-room","tag-campaign","tag-energy-and-environment","tag-healthcare","tag-house","tag-iowa","tag-nexstar-media-wire-news","tag-ro-khanna","tag-state-watch","tag-white-house"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/571344","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=571344"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/571344\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/571345"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=571344"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=571344"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=571344"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}