Seems pretty clear to me the Dems won the suburbs and Repubs won the rural vote

[Jersey Devil]

Tester, for instance, did well or better than he did last time in cities and suburbs but his opponent got even stronger numbers than the Repub did last time in rural areas. The same was reported for Florida and Indiana.

So the people in rural areas buy into Trump's bullshit and just about no one else. That would also account for the strong Dem gains in the House, which occurred mainly in suburban districts.

[pstokely]

1. also the same in Missouri

Last edited Wed Nov 7, 2018, 09:43 AM - Edit history (1)

McCaskil won in the cities, held even in suburbs, lost big outstate

[Jersey Devil]

2. Yes, so our job is to find out how we can appeal to rural voters

If we just write them off we will continue to lose elections. There must be a way to gain a foothold with them. Not win a majority maybe, but at least put a dent in it.

[AlexSFCA]

3. they are cultural voters, hard to do but need to be creative

[Awsi Dooger]

4. Very good summary

After 2016 there was scrambling rationalization to pretend it was not white working class and rural voters who made the difference. That was garbage and needs to be laughed out of the room. The same group came out again but this time in a midterm. There is no reason to expect it will not continue. Trump has altered the demographic realities of this country, almost singlehandedly. Altered can mean a few pivotal points, and that changes everything we were relying on in terms of the Hispanic and youth vote.

Every two years the senior vote will move slightly more in our direction, and likewise millennials will vote more dependably and it will be blue.

But you can guarantee the GOP is so exhilarated at this trend among white rural voters than they will continue to push it and no doubt succeed. Heck, they managed it in 2016 almost by accident. It wasn't funded fully. Trump created it with his fearful priorities. Now it is being funded.

538 nailed it early this cycle that Democratic gains would come from suburban districts. Nate Silver months ago was skeptical that Democrats would make any gains in the south.

Also, unfortunately we continue to lose the hefty majority of tight secretary of state races, and those positions decide how elections are run. 538 ran down a list of them and we lost maybe 6 of 7 with 1 undecided.