Anonymous wrote:I think you are conflating "rural" and "Midwestern".

No -- I'm talking more about urban Democratic centers like Flint and Detroit. I know DCUM tendencies to equate Midwestern with rural.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone who still chooses to live in flyover country is a dumbass.

Coastal cities are where the economy is. That's where the jobs that matter are, where policy is made, and where people with talent will gravitate.

The middle of the country is the sump that collects the lazy, the stupid, those without ambition, and anyone else too obtuse to figure out where to be.

Democrats are the party of science, learning, education and betterment. By that definition, if you call yourself a Democrat, and subscribe to those values, you live on the coast, either in the northest, or the west coast.

If you call yourself a Dem and live in .... I dunno, someplace I'd never be caught dead in, then guess what? You're an idiot.

It's pretty simple.

I guarantee this is a Republican. No Dem I know thinks like this. In fact, they want to see more investment in the Midwestern cities so they can innovate and thrive.

+1

The focus that I am keenly aware of is to develop 'flyover' country so that it can be more economically feasible for people to work where they want to live & to drive economic development to rural areas. The future is not going to be in physical labor, the future is in technology. The more we can do to develop a workforce that can support that, the better off we will be.

I think you are conflating "rural" and "Midwestern".

OP again -- based on the Michigan Dems comments in the article, I get the sense that there hasn't been any movement to come together. Their message seems to be no one is listening. It is as frustrating as the lack of bipartisanship in this country.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I grew up in the midwest and I have not experienced anything like what you describe.

OP here -- I grew up in the city of Detroit. I hear a lot of crap here. A Midwestern Dem's POV is absolutely dismissed -- doubly so if it comes from a non-urbanite. See the comment posted after yours.

I'd also like to point out the Dems in the article we're certainly iganored.

What I can see is two points

1. HRC focused too much on DJT negatives, and not on a positive (economic) vision

2. Dems didnt pay enough attention to trade

Re 1. We all know that HRC bet on getting more suburban GOP votes by going after Trump negs, people who might have been alienated by populist rhetoric. That clearly didn't work, as partisanship limited the swing of those votes to her. We know that, and won't make that mistake again, in a Prez campaign (obviously in a local campaign it may not be a mistake) But anyway, if she had gone more populist, she might not have had credibility anyway, so what could she do?

2. HRC did drop support for TPP. Didn't win her much. Maybe younger Dems will do better, as they will not have 1990s era support for NAFTA history. And of course some Dem hopefuls, Warren, Brown, etc are clearly not free traders. All of that is unfortunate of course, as free trade is actually good policy, but it is what it is. Also not sure the trade stuff plays as hard outside Michigan.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone who still chooses to live in flyover country is a dumbass.

Coastal cities are where the economy is. That's where the jobs that matter are, where policy is made, and where people with talent will gravitate.

The middle of the country is the sump that collects the lazy, the stupid, those without ambition, and anyone else too obtuse to figure out where to be.

Democrats are the party of science, learning, education and betterment. By that definition, if you call yourself a Democrat, and subscribe to those values, you live on the coast, either in the northest, or the west coast.

If you call yourself a Dem and live in .... I dunno, someplace I'd never be caught dead in, then guess what? You're an idiot.

It's pretty simple.

I guarantee this is a Republican. No Dem I know thinks like this. In fact, they want to see more investment in the Midwestern cities so they can innovate and thrive.

Yes. This is a troll.

Anonymous wrote:Nah, just someone who can point out the oblivious.

Please tell me that was a typo.

All the Democrats I know, including some leadership folks and strategists, are working hard to tend to the whole flock, as it were. The lessons of 2016 were an incredibly painful wake-up call.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I grew up in the midwest and I have not experienced anything like what you describe.

OP here -- I grew up in the city of Detroit. I hear a lot of crap here. A Midwestern Dem's POV is absolutely dismissed -- doubly so if it comes from a non-urbanite. See the comment posted after yours.

I'd also like to point out the Dems in the article we're certainly iganored.

Anonymous wrote:I grew up in the midwest and I have not experienced anything like what you describe.

OP here -- I grew up in the city of Detroit. I hear a lot of crap here. A Midwestern Dem's POV is absolutely dismissed -- doubly so if it comes from a non-urbanite. See the comment posted after yours.

Nah, just someone who can point out the oblivious.

Anonymous wrote:Anyone who still chooses to live in flyover country is a dumbass.

Coastal cities are where the economy is. That's where the jobs that matter are, where policy is made, and where people with talent will gravitate.

The middle of the country is the sump that collects the lazy, the stupid, those without ambition, and anyone else too obtuse to figure out where to be.

Democrats are the party of science, learning, education and betterment. By that definition, if you call yourself a Democrat, and subscribe to those values, you live on the coast, either in the northest, or the west coast.

If you call yourself a Dem and live in .... I dunno, someplace I'd never be caught dead in, then guess what? You're an idiot.

It's pretty simple.

I guarantee this is a Republican. No Dem I know thinks like this. In fact, they want to see more investment in the Midwestern cities so they can innovate and thrive.

Anyone who still chooses to live in flyover country is a dumbass.

Coastal cities are where the economy is. That's where the jobs that matter are, where policy is made, and where people with talent will gravitate.

The middle of the country is the sump that collects the lazy, the stupid, those without ambition, and anyone else too obtuse to figure out where to be.

Democrats are the party of science, learning, education and betterment. By that definition, if you call yourself a Democrat, and subscribe to those values, you live on the coast, either in the northest, or the west coast.

If you call yourself a Dem and live in .... I dunno, someplace I'd never be caught dead in, then guess what? You're an idiot.

It's pretty simple.

I grew up in the midwest and I have not experienced anything like what you describe.

Detroit Mayor Duggan's comments this month on the state of the Democratic Party really resonated with me. I've encountered a lot of disdain for Midwestern Dems while living in DVM. So, so sad. Will the coastal Dems continue to push the Midwesterners away? Anyone know of plans to bring them into the fold? I get the sense that coastal Dems think the Midwesterners are too centrist, and will ultimately be shut out like the Blue Dogs. It is as if the coastal Dems pretend the Midwesterners don't exist.

Here's one Detroit columnist's report:

http://www.freep.com/story/news/columnists/rochelle-riley/2017/06/02/mike-duggan-detroit-democratic-party/362434001/