What Centering The White Working Class Would Mean For Democrats

[Yurovsky]

11. While I agree with some elements of the OP, your last point is on point...

we have a huge problem outside of large cities, coastal areas, and college towns. In many of these states where the gerrymandering is at it worst, we can't hope to run the same candidates we run in NYC or Seattle or Miami, we have to run candidates that are as progressive as the local political climate - at present - will allow. That doesn't mean we get a pro-choice Klan member to run in Pigsnuckle, Arkansas, but it does mean that we may have to compromise on some finer points until such time that the locals realize progressives aren't the agents of Satan and we're actually going to HELP them. Once you start filling up the state houses with Democrats - some of them possibly at odds with certain DNC positions but fundamentally progessive in terms of government's role in improving the lives of those in need - well, then we can not only enact laws and policies that make a difference in average people's lives, but we can end the gerrymandering fiascos that have helped the GOP seize power with less than half the population's support.

Over time, the less progressive elected officials will either evolve or be replaced by more progressive party members. But we have to start someplace, and we can't expect the folks in Jesusland to jump from 1860 to 2016 overnight. It may take a decade or more, but we need to get to work. Some of them are just too stupid to evolve on their own. We can help. Some of them will fight. We should be prepared for that as well.