The Kansas Democrat who nearly pulled off the impossible has some advice for his party

[brooklynite]

Think Progress:

James Thompson may not be heading to Congress, but not everyone is calling his loss in Kansas’ special congressional election a defeat.

On Tuesday, Republican Ron Estes beat Thompson in the solidly Republican district by a margin of roughly five points. Just a few months ago, President Trump carried the district with a wide margin of 27 points.

The Democratic Party never expected to win the seat. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) didn’t conduct polling or invest money in the race until the final days, when Republicans appeared to be worried and made a last minute push. In recent days, the GOP spent close to $100,000 on ads and dispatched party leaders like Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) to campaign and Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) to raise money for Estes.

Speaking to ThinkProgress Wednesday morning, Thompson said that he is disappointed, but proud of his campaign. And while he was unable to swing the district to Democrats, he said a win was not impossible and that the party should not ignore red states.

[annabanana]

1. "the party should not ignore red states"

Jeezus lord.. Does this even have to be said?

There is no such thing as a "red state".. not really. They're just blue states that have had the wool so firmly pulled over their eyes for so long they can not conceive of anything else.

The Democratic (democRat) liberal (LIEberal, or librul) brand has been so trashed for 30 years that people have become convinced that liberal democrats are traitors.

If we don't get the HELL in there, how will we show them the difference??

[flying_wahini]

5. Cough,cough.... or states surgically gerrymandered so their votes don't count.

Like Texas; where gerrymandering is an art form.

[Bengus81]

11. Actually the 4th district where he ran and where I live was gerrymandered YEARS ago....

Anyone can look up Dan Glickman a Dem who held that district for years but the CONS couldn't have that so they re-drew the lines and have owned it now for what....20+ years starting with that POS Todd Tiahart. He held it from 1995-2011 then came Pompeo.

[KPN]

17. Agree!

Sometimes I just have to shake my head and try to remain positive.

[DURHAM D]

2. Wasn't he a Republican until recently?

jftr - I saw a bunch of his ads and frankly if you did not know better you would think he was running on the Republican ticket. Guns and more guns.

[NutmegYankee]

3. Gun ownership means a lot to rural areas.

They are a symbol of freedom and independence to them, but even larger in their minds is that it is a sign of trust. Trust that they are part the government and not it's slaves. We as a party need to do better with outreach to rural areas. We will never control congress without rural districts.

President Obama was right when he noted the clinging.

Referring to working-class voters in old industrial towns decimated by job losses, the presidential hopeful said: "They get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations." https://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/apr/14/barackobama.uselections2008

[DURHAM D]

4. That is a myth.

Farmers and ranchers are turned to shit by AK-47 gun exhibitionists who work at the local muffler shop and pretend to be protecting everyone from "The Guberment".

Rural citizens worry about who is protecting everyone from the angry weenie wagers.

[NutmegYankee]

7. It's no myth. I encounter it all of the time.

And I'm not talking about farms and ranches, just the small towns and low density places scattered everywhere, even Connecticut.

As for the AK-47 and AR-15 people, they tend to be wealthier. The rural poor are rabid about gun rights, but own very few.

[NoMoreRepugs]

8. Spent almost a half year fixing up family farm we inherited

in rural Missouri, have to agree with u 100% DD. Practically every person who came to the farm to visit or inquire on equipment or cattle had a weapon strapped to their side or laying on the seat of their pickemup truck....women included..

They are afraid of everyone and everything.

[NutmegYankee]

18. People are constantly taught by news to be afraid.

I live in a rural part of Connecticut in an isolated old subdivision with very little crime. All that happens is some petty theft from vehicles at night. Some neighbors don't lock their garage doors and some like me don't lock doors while home. I spend many summer nights with the doors open so that the screen doors allow air flow. And yet other neighbors are terrified that someone is going to come in and attack them and lock their doors at all times. I've lived in Southeastern cities (they tend to sprawl), and in Washington D.C., and these people act like crime is everywhere when it's the safest damn place I've ever lived.

[NoMoreRepugs]

20. Agree NutmegY.... way easier for some to b told what to

believe vs figure it out 4 yourself

[IronLionZion]

6. A lot of DUers claim he is a socialist

I don't know what to believe anymore.

He did have support from Bernie Sanders and a lot of liberals. I would imagine a rural Kansas liberal might be more moderate than an urban coastal liberal.

[bullwinkle428]

10. Charlie Pierce - "Thompson ran as an unapologetic Bernie Sanders liberal. That

is a good thing."

http://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/news/a54461/kansas-special-election/

[Bengus81]

12. He was in the military.........

I'm glad he put it in his commercials,took that stupid "plank" off the table for Estes to use.

[DownriverDem]

9. Old Thinking

For some reason the powers that be have old thinking. The Dems have been in the electoral wilderness for quite some time. I think they still think we the people do not support them. Last November didn't help either. We must make Perez et al realize that we will support them with our votes.

[Bengus81]

13. In Kansas.... IDIOT Gov. Brownback only won by 30k votes last time...

If ALL Dems would have got off their ASSESS and voted instead of just thinking it was an automatic for Brokeback we wouldn't have the massive financial problems we have today. Sen Pat Roberts won last time at about mid night,just about got beat. You could tell at his election "party" he was visably shaken--didn't show up until about mid night. He's been a Senator since the Sphinx was built.

While there were some Dems elected to the Kansas Legislature last Nov many hard liner NEO CONS were KICKED OUT. Yeah...many Rep were elected but not with the same scorched Earth plan like Trump and his ilk like Brownback.

It's hard around here for good leadership but not impossible. Things have turned somewhat.

[disillusioned73]

14. K&R..

A missed opportunity for sure.. although, the corporatists will tell you that he never had a shot.. look at the numbers - he had more than a shot.. and he ran as a Berniecrat (go figure), I know that gets into some folks crawl.. but they need to deal with facts and set their emotions aside if they truly wish to take back control from this insane administration & party..

[bronxiteforever]

15. 50 states should be in play period! DNC get off ur asses and fight! N/t

[yellowdogintexas]

16. I met Congressman Beto O'Rourke last week (US Senate Candidate)

He drew a crowd of over 300 on a Sunday morning smack in the middle of church time on Palm Sunday - in Fort Worth! It was a last minute scheduling; he was on his way from El Paso to Dallas for the Mega March.

Considering all the reasons folks might not have shown up on Palm Sunday and the fact that no one knew much about it until early that week, it was a good crowd.

He is very impressive and really fired up the room (and the sidewalk outside).

[wildeyed]

19. That seat should have never been on doubt for the GOP.

The fact that we talked about it, that there was even a chance for a Democrat is HUGE.

There was standing room only at my local Dem Party meeting last week. I cannot stress enough how out of the ordinary this is. I don't think bombs and wars are going to dampen the enthusiasm, either. DT alienated Democrats so badly, he will never 'become President of the United States', no matter how hard the pundits try to sell that line. He hates us. We know that. And he scares us. Bad politicking on his part, but there it is. And liberal voters are weary of the GOP gerrymandering and vote stealing on the state level too.

Challenge every single GOP candidate in every single race. Make them put time and money into defending 'safe' seats. With the ground swell of Democratic discontent, there will be more volunteers for state and local races than anyone has ever seen before. We will not win them all, but we will rattle their cages SO HARD that they will not make the mistake of ignoring our opinions again, gerrymandering or not. We are already making them sweat with the protests and town halls.