Stuff You Should Consume - Febuary 24, 2022
Welcome to this week’s edition of “Stuff You Should Consume,”— a weekly compilation of interesting political content for Message Box readers.
“A Strategy for Factory Towns” by Mike Luz, American Family Voices
Hard times, effective right-wing messaging, the demise of local news, and sometimes the Democratic Party itself have led to big changes in the voting and opinions of people living in small and midsized towns that have been most impacted by deindustrialization and increased Big Business power in the economy. But these Factory Towns voters are not lost causes to the Democratic Party, and we cannot afford to write them off. They comprise 48% of the voters in Pennsylvania and the Midwest, and if we continue to lose ground with them, the entire region will become more and more like Iowa and Missouri – tough states for the foreseeable future. However, if these counties start to move back toward the Democrats, that kind of progress could be the linchpin to building sustained Democratic majorities that can usher our country into a more progressive future.
“Trump’s grip on the Republican base is slipping — even among his fans” by Isaac Arnsdorf, Josh Dawsey, Hannah Knowles, Yvonne Wingett Sanchez, Patrick Marley, and Ashley Parker, Washington Post
It’s not the first time that Trump supporters have admitted their misgivings. But during his presidency, the only choices were to be with him or against him, so they stuck with him.
Now there is a new option — a way to still support Trump as the 45th president without being sold on him as the party’s best shot at becoming the 47th. Not anti-Trump, or even non-Trump — just post-Trump. That’s how 70 percent of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents could have a favorable view of Trump in a Marquette Law School poll last month, while the same survey found Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) beating him 64 percent to 36 percent in a hypothetical one-on-one matchup.
“There Is No Dignity in This Kind of America” by Jamelle Bouie, New York Times
The denial of dignity to one segment of the political community, then, threatens the dignity of all. This was true for Douglass and his time — it inspired his support for women’s suffrage and his opposition to the Chinese Exclusion Act — and it is true for us and ours as well. To deny equal respect and dignity to any part of the citizenry is to place the entire country on the road to tiered citizenship and limited rights, to liberty for some and hierarchy for the rest.
Put plainly, the attack on the dignity of transgender Americans is an attack on the dignity of all Americans. And like the battles for abortion rights and bodily autonomy, the stakes of the fight for the rights and dignity of transgender people are high for all of us. There is no world in which their freedom is suppressed and yours is sustained.
Media Critic Jay Rosen Explains the Fox News “Resentment Machine”
“Will the Supreme Court break the Internet?” Strict Scrutiny Podcast, Crooked Media
Danielle Citron, author of The Fight for Privacy: Protecting Dignity, Identity, and Love in the Digital Age, joins Leah and Melissa to preview two Supreme Court cases that ask whether online platforms should be held liable for user-uploaded content. Plus, more drip-drip-drip from the investigation of the Dobbs leak.
Highly recommend folks to read the Strategic Summary in the report linked in “A Strategy for Factory Towns”.
My sense is much of what they uncovered will apply to many voters that Dems need to win -- the ones Dan writes about in Biden's Blue Collar Blueprint to Win Reelection.
"The rising cost of living" and "jobs and the economy" are top concerns for the folks who participated in the survey. Likely true for Texas rural communities, blue-collar, non-college voters as well.
Study shows these voters believe "the 1% rigging the rules" is "a significant reason for economic hardship in their communities" and not so much that the 1% worked hard for their wealth.
What They Want Someone To Do:
- Crack down on corporate abuses like wage theft, price gouging, tax loopholes.
- Create good jobs, for ex: invest in apprenticeships and job training
- Invest in local communities
This from “A Strategy for Factory Towns” is helpful:
"....recommend that Democrats and progressives make major investments in local field organizing and
door-to-door,
special events that build community,
online community building,
existing local media and progressive media targeted to these counties, and
progressive organizations that make sure voters know how to benefit directly from the Biden policy initiatives of the last two years.
It's in line with what we're doing via Texas Blue Action Democrats. Year-round, neighborhood organizing.
No, we didn't win the last election, despite having the best slate of Dem candidates this Texan has ever seen, and despite all those campaigns -- esp Beto's -- leaving it all on the field.
But we're still fighting. Taking cues from Stacey Abrams' playbook, from Michael Moore's Blue Dot in a Red State podcast series. And now this piece from American Family Voices.
Thx for sharing it.