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Welcome to the Homeland
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 Forget red states and blue states, a new book looks at the political divide between urbanites and their counterparts “Homelandersâ€, fifty million rural whites, twenty percent of the US voting population who helped the Conservative base of the Republican Party gain control of everything from the Presidency to the Supreme court. We’ll explore the politics of the Homelanders, how they've become so influential and how they differ from their urban neighbors. Laura's guest is Brian Mann, Reporter and Editor for North Country Public Radio and author of "Welcome to the Homeland: A Journey to the Rural Heart of America's Conservative Revolution.
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The rural community is not stupid as some have said. Quite the opposite, they can be very intelligent but are also very trusting. If someone says they will do something, they expect them to do it.
During the 2000 Presidential election, I saw that every time the Democrats would come out with a position statement, the Republicans would counter with a position essentially saying "We will give you all that - and more!". If you believe you have been given such a choice, what would you choose?
However, my sense is that the Democratic positions were generally sincere while the Republicans have had no intention of following through and have continually sold the American people a bill of goods.
It has taken a while, but I think that the People, both Democrats AND Republicans, are finally waking up to the fact that the Republican leadership have NOT been telling them the truth and that we are seeing a growing backlash.
I think it comes down to more than Democrats saying "We promise you this, that, and the other thing!" and the Republicans saying "We do, too, plus free cable!" Some of it was that the Republicans offered less: Less government, less spending, less pork. It's a shame they didn't carry through with their promises.
I think you'll find that the Homelanders won't be as likely to vote Democrat this time around because of it as to vote out the 'old' Republican representatives and vote in new ones more in line with their beliefs.
Paco: I've not read Mr. Mann's book. Perhaps his analysis goes further than his discussion with Laura Kinoy on why "homelanders" are more supportive of the Republican Party. If so, he, or readers of his book can correct me when I say that he left out two rather important points:
1) He neglected to discuss racism and the Republicans "Southern Strategy". This is most clearly demonstrated by the Reagan campaign's decision to introduce their candidate in Philadephia, Mississippi a town made infamous in the summer of 1964 by the lynching of three civil rights workers, James Cheney, Michael Schwerner and Andrew Goodman. Reagan used the euphemism "states rights" as the topic of his speech. As most of us have known for a long time "states rights" has been used since the 1950's as a euphemism for racial segregation and the racism that formed it's base.
Not reacism you maintain? Then I ask if Reagan and the Republicans were really concerned only about states rights why did the former California Governor fly all the way to Mississippi to speak about states rights in Philadelphia which was known mostly for the lynching.
Racism and segregation, I maintain, drew former Dixiecrats (Democratic followers of the segregation policies of Strom Thurmond) like Trent Lott to the Republican Party. Along with the politicians came a large number of southern homelanders for whom segregation and racism were a way of life.
2) He also neglected to note that many homelanders have not fallen for the Republican lies and lines. In Vermont the progresive politician Bernie Sanders regularly garners over 60% of the vote. They can't be all city-folk. Vermont doesn't have many cities and none have populations over 50,000.
Someday the Democratic Party will learn from politicians like Sanders that progressives really do have something to say to homelanders and homelanders really don't have much in common with the old line businesses (like oil) that are the backbone of the modern Republican Party.