"Tea Party Liberal" Promises to Bring in a Blue Wave from West Virginia

[ultramanhyata]

Trump was touted as "telling it like it is". Well, the post you quoted IS telling it like it "is".

It all depends on what your definition of "is" is.

 

[Quequeg]

FWIW, you're one of those people whom they see as opposing their interests. You're an ambassador for your political platform. I don't think you've reflected deeply enough on how your political rhetoric is received among people who don't share your perspective.

So we should just pander to them no matter how wrong they are(coal coming back) like Trump? Or give them the respect of telling them the truth?

 

[Possum Jenkins]

This is one way the Democrats can compete in "Trump country." To put it in words, we need some pipe banging motherfuckers. Red meat liberals.

Sad but true.

Trump Country cares mostly about emotion, image, and feels. Some buzzcut, goateed, former military white dude give them a good feeling so he has a good chance. Policy can be similar to that of, say, a California liberal but this guy ain't a vegan pussy. I mean, look at him!

Similar in Texas. Beto O'Rourke is within single digits of Ted Cruz for the senate race and he's very liberal. Not very liberal for Texas, but very liberal, period. How can he challenge the only guy to smash Trump in the Republican primaries?

Well, he's not some weak broad or meddlesome darkie. This is the sort of dude that was president of the biggest fraternity on campus.

 

[PainIsLIfe]

"But Ojeda says people don't understand his neighbors. They're not Republicans, he insists, they're working-class folks looking for a break."

I wanna know what the hell this break is that they're looking for, because I have a sneaking suspicion that if you go to WV and start talking about unions people are going to freak the fuck out. Same with universal healthcare, which would be a difference maker for a lot of the impoverished people he represents.

???

Historically WV was pretty strong toward unions - they just became a RTW state last year.

 

[xcvbn]

"But Ojeda says people don't understand his neighbors. They're not Republicans, he insists, they're working-class folks looking for a break."

I wanna know what the hell this break is that they're looking for, because I have a sneaking suspicion that if you go to WV and start talking about unions people are going to freak the fuck out. Same with universal healthcare, which would be a difference maker for a lot of the impoverished people he represents.

Have to start somewhere with the poor whites

 

[Andy Capp]

"Richard Ojeda joined the Army because he says it seemed like the most reasonable choice he had growing up; his alternative options, he says, were to "dig coal" or "sell dope."

So he chose the Army, where he spent more than two decades. But when he came home to Logan County, W.Va., he was stunned.

"I come home from spending 24 years in the United States Army and I realize I got kids in my backyard that have it worse than the kids I saw in Iraq and Afghanistan," he shouts into the microphone during an interview.

And so in his 40s, he jumped into politics. Ojeda ran for the state legislature and won.

Ojeda may be a far-fetched savior for the Democratic Party, but this tattooed rabble-rouser is convinced he can turn the tide.

"We're going to have a blue wave in West Virginia that's going to make Virginia look like a ripple in the water," Ojeda said, referring to the big Virginia Democratic wins in 2017.

Ojeda's confidence might make a political analyst chuckle, particularly because Trump captured 80 percent of the vote in his home county of Logan, W.Va.

But Ojeda says people don't understand his neighbors. They're not Republicans, he insists, they're working-class folks looking for a break.



Seeing the support that the WV teachers' strike generated recently-- sparking similar strikes in other supposedly "red" states-- I think there is every reason to think that many of these states and districts could flip blue given the right local candidates, issues, and messages.

This is one way the Democrats can compete in "Trump country." To put it in words, we need some pipe banging motherfuckers. Red meat liberals.

Inb4 his name isn't American enough.

 

[HunterSdVa29]

I like this dude's style

although I spent a year in Afghanistan, I've never seen a kid in the US have it even 1/100th as bad as the average Afghan Kid

we don't have man love Thursdays if you feel me

 

[Andy Capp]

Coal mining is a terrible job that kills people, there has to be way to replace it with better opportunities for the workers. Trying to prop up a harmful dying industry is just plain stupid.

And yet Trump cut funding that was going to re-training programs for these people. MAGA right?

 

[Big Nasty Edison]

And yet Trump cut funding that was going to re-training programs for these people. MAGA right?

Might was well cut it, they didn't want to be trained for new careers anyway.

 

[Andy Capp]

Might was well cut it, they didn't want to be trained for new careers anyway.

Perhaps some, but many benefited from retraining.

 

[Big Nasty Edison]

Perhaps some, but many benefited from retraining.

The link to the article I posted above showed that only 15% of eligible people showed up in some counties. I wouldn't call that "many".

If a majority of these guys have no desire to be trained for new careers, then there's never any incentive for new industries to move into these depressed areas. It's a perpetuating cycle that will keep these areas poverty stricken.

 

[JamesRussler]

So we should just pander to them no matter how wrong they are(coal coming back) like Trump? Or give them the respect of telling them the truth?

There might be something else you're saying that doesn't sit quite right with them.

 

[BudKing8806]

So we should just pander to them no matter how wrong they are(coal coming back) like Trump? Or give them the respect of telling them the truth?

The left panders to every goddamn body. Except straight white males, conservatives, Christians, etc.

 

[Andy Capp]

The link to the article I posted above showed that only 15% of eligible people showed up in some counties. I wouldn't call that "many".

If a majority of these guys have no desire to be trained for new careers, then there's never any incentive for new industries to move into these depressed areas. It's a perpetuating cycle that will keep these areas poverty stricken.

Some counties. What about other counties? I'm not in strong disagreement over your point, but lets not paint them all with the same brush. I suppose it could be likely that there is a correlation between low turn out for retraining and for voters against Trump.

 

[7437]

You should have been a Clinton speech writer during her 2016 campaign. lol

That doesnt make it not true. If you think coal jobs will return you are just an idiot.

 

[bobgeese]

This is great. If democrats returned to the party of 20 years ago, it would be Amazing.

 

[Roaming East]

W. Virginians, and in a lot of ways, rural america in general want the best of both worlds.
They want the economic prosperity and social safety net the Democrats espouse. But they also want the ability to tell 'certain peoples' that THEY cant have a slice of the cake. They want better education opportunities for their brats, but they DONT want to be told anything thats not part of their religious dogma. At the end they are forced to side either with their selfish desire for 'got mine go fuck yourself' or 'everyone gets a bit of what they need'. They tend to choose the former. they cant have it both ways. Sooner or later they will have to chose whether fucking other people over is worth them feeling better even though it doesnt help them out either.

 

[luckyshot]

W. Virginians, and in a lot of ways, rural america in general want the best of both worlds.
They want the economic prosperity and social safety net the Democrats espouse. But they also want the ability to tell 'certain peoples' that THEY cant have a slice of the cake. They want better education opportunities for their brats, but they DONT want to be told anything thats not part of their religious dogma. At the end they are forced to side either with their selfish desire for 'got mine go fuck yourself' or 'everyone gets a bit of what they need'. They tend to choose the former. they cant have it both ways. Sooner or later they will have to chose whether fucking other people over is worth them feeling better even though it doesnt help them out either.

There’s some truth there, but that’s a mean way to put it. I think a better way of saying it is that some of the values that have characterized these communities for a long time no longer serve them particularly well. The world has changed. But the call for updating values is always a hard sell and is always going to be met with a “revivalist” backlash (and that point of view is going to enjoy a big home field advantage). That’s why is is so important to have political candidates that “speak the culture.” It’s a battle for hearts and minds.

 

[Roaming East]

There’s some truth there, but that’s a mean way to put it. I think a better way of saying it is that some of the values that have characterized these communities for a long time no longer serve them particularly well. The world has changed. But the call for updating values is always a hard sell and is always going to be met with a “revivalist” backlash (and that point of view is going to enjoy a big home field advantage). That’s why is is so important to have political candidates that “speak the culture.” It’s a battle for hearts and minds.

all you have to do is talk to one of these guys for 10 minutes. Bunch of bubbas who LOVE to 'see librul tears' etc. Its like if 5 people were offered cake but the only flavor is chocolate. 4 of the people either like chocolate or dont care. But the one guy says it HAS to be vanilla and if it aint, NOBODY can have any cake and he throws it in the trash. Then he spends the next 10 minutes bitching about not having any cake but its okay 'so long as those other guys didnt get any either'

i dont need to 'understand' where he is coming from in relation to cake. he's just a selfish asshole with a inferiority complex.

 

[Quequeg]

The Deplorables would rather hurt someone else then help themselves.