If you are old enough, you will remember this photograph appearing in LIFE magazine. The majority of you will not. That is John Fitzgerald Kennedy, who was still a Senator at the time, campaigning for the Presidency in rural West Virginia. This was a man who was born into great wealth just like Donald Trump. He was raised very differently, however. He, and his brothers, were raised by Rose Kennedy to be strict Catholics, and as such to be mindful of their duties to give back to their communities and to their country. Like Trump, the money came from questionable sources. Joe Kennedy was a bootlegger during Prohibition. To make the kind of money he did meant that he was also in with organized crime bosses to truck the stuff into the cities to sell. There has always been speculation about the exact nature of the businesses of those “speak-easies”. Prohibition did not last long, but Joe Kennedy had made a fortune. Rose made sure the money stayed around.
Democrats back in the 1950-60s knew they needed the rural vote. In fact, when JFK won the Presidency, he won by only 120,000 of the 70 million votes cast in that election. (Nixon was his opponent.) He campaigned HARD in the rural areas across the country. Then somewhere along the way, the campaign managers thought it would be time, and probably money, better spent if most of the campaigning was spent mostly in the larger cities and, even then, in the “swing” states, and in doing so, took the candidates even further from the rural voters.
Georgia has only recently reacquired the status of being a “swing state”. I’m not knocking it. Not by a long shot, folks, because it means more attention from the national party and national media. That’s never a bad thing. That also brings in more money which, hopefully, will make its way down to the state legislature level. The question from me is, how much attention and money will be given to the RURAL counties and voters/issues that so desperately need it ? Democrats have neglected this for far too long and they’ve paid dearly for it. That’s why the rural voters felt abandoned and went to the Republicans. (Not that it did them a speck of good, because all they got was a lot of lip service and no action like a bunch of seedy used car salesmen moonlighting as preachers on Sunday mornings.)
You know I’m right. That’s why I want to build a team of volunteers who are willing to go knock on doors, phone calls, write postcards, or text these people and get them into a dialogue about what kind of concerns they have. I want people who can ask questions and then wait for a response. That’s right-stand there and say nothing. Let them talk. These people think they haven’t been heard. So listen to them. Repeat what they say back to them to get it right. Then come back and let’s talk.
Who’s willing to try this?
Wright4Georgia 