Democrats' new (old) idea to win rural voters (01-14-2025--Hour3)

[00:00:04] What's going on? Thank you so much for listening to this podcast. It is heard live every day from noon to 3 on WBT Radio in Charlotte. And if you want exclusive content like invitations to events, the weekly live stream, my daily show prep with all the links, become a patron, go to thepetekalendershow.com. Make sure you hit the subscribe button, get every episode for free, right to your smartphone or tablet. And again, thank you so much for your support.

[00:00:28] So in the first hour today, we played some clips. We joined live in progress. We gypped it, JIP, join in progress. The Pete Hegseth confirmation hearing that was underway up on Capitol Hill. He's the nominee for secretary of defense. Not going to go over anymore. They've wrapped up that hearing now. But one of the things, and I'm just going to read this assessment and then pivot into a related topic, which is a post from Varad Mehta.

[00:00:57] And he says the Democrat, and there's a picture side by side photo, which is a screenshot off of C-SPAN. And it's Kristen Gillibrand. And I mentioned her and her performance where she was just like screeching and screaming. And so there's a picture of her with like her mouth open, furrowed brow yelling and her finger, you know, one finger in the air, like pointing.

[00:01:24] And next to her is Pete Hegseth. And he's just got this like, I don't know what you would call that expression. Just one of just like zoning out with his eyes closed. You know, he's not smiling. He's not frowning. He's not doing anything really with his mouth. It's just like a flat line mouth, you know. And he's got his eyes closed. Just mmm.

[00:01:46] And I'm just speaking here, I think, from, you know, me personally, as a dude. That picture says something to me. And maybe it's because, you know, if you're raised by your mom, you have encountered that kind of interaction. And it's just like, hmm. Mm hmm. And you're just and he has to sit there and listen to it.

[00:02:15] He can't do anything. So he's got to just sit there and listen to this yelling. And Varad Mehta said, quote, the Democrats becoming the party of the angry mother-in-law slash hectoring wife is something they might want to do something about. And I think this is true. This was one of the things against Hillary Clinton.

[00:02:41] And, you know, when she would try to get the crowds riled up and she would try to be, you know, forceful and even, yeah, a little angry. And she just came across like a screaming, shrill, scold. And it's annoying. I don't want to listen to it. I'm sitting there watching her. I'm thinking, I do not want to have to listen to this for four years.

[00:03:06] Now, to be fair, I say that about virtually all politicians, men and women alike. So I just I wonder if there's something to this. And in a related story, there is a Web site called Persuasion, persuasion dot community. And I track this as left of center. The people that write over there, you could sign up for a free newsletter and read some of this stuff.

[00:03:35] And they have various people and they write on various topics. And the vast majority of the time, I really don't care what they're saying. But every now and again, they somebody writes a piece that I am interested in. That's why I'm on their free. I don't pay for it. Free newsletter. Persuasion. And this one was written by Jeffrey Tyler Sick or psych. S-Y-C-K. I'm assuming that's Dutch. So it would be sick. Psych.

[00:04:05] Anyway, he's an assistant professor of political science and history at the University of Pikeville. That is in Kentucky, by the way, in case you are unaware of this esteemed college. And he argues that a properly funded and intellectually robust movement inside the Democrat Party could win back rural voters. What movement would that be, Pete?

[00:04:33] Ah, great question. Glad you asked. It is the brand new Blue Dogs. Except that it's actually not new. They're resurrecting the Blue Dog movement. And by they, I mean three members of Congress. Well, by three members of Congress, I mean two members and one who just lost re-election. So it's going very well.

[00:05:04] The effort is off to a fantastic start. Jared Golden of Maine, Mary Peltola of Alaska, and Marie Glusenkamp-Perez of Washington State. And Mary Peltola of Alaska lost. She lost her re-election bid. So she's already out as one of the Blue Dog leaders. But other than that, things are going well.

[00:05:32] This is Jeffrey Tyler sick or psych in persuasion. Quote, founded in 1995 and long the resting place of racist, politically antediluvian Southern Democrats, the Blue Dogs have been revamped by three young politicians on a mission to make their party relevant in rural America again.

[00:05:54] So would that be make Democrats relevant in rural America again? So M-D-R-R-A-A. M-D-R-R-A-A. Madura. Madura. You got to roll it, I guess. I don't know. Bad acronym, guys. You guys got to come up with something better than that.

[00:06:23] But the Blue Dogs cultivate a combination of aesthetics. But of course, they're Democrats, so style over substance, right? You got to have, it's got to look good. These aesthetics, as well as policy positions that they hope will allow their party to flourish. Moderate economic stances with just a smidge of populism.

[00:06:48] Throw in some candidates with unorthodox, yet relatable personal backgrounds. Really? You too were read to at an early age at a drag queen story hour? Look at that. What a trajectory. And social liberalism shorn of all moralistic tripe. That is a fancy way of saying, be liberal, but stop preaching.

[00:07:19] Right? You're, I say this all the time in debates with leftists. You do not occupy a morally superior position. See, once you say that in a discussion, in an argument, in a debate with a leftist, it shatters this illusion from which they operate, that they are better than you. They have a position that is morally superior to you.

[00:07:47] And I usually tell them at some point, look, I want this. You also want this, or so you claim, and I will take you at your word for it. So we both want this same outcome. For example, I want all kids to be able to read by third grade, fifth grade, whatever. Right? Like, I want kids on grade level. I want kids able to read and do math. You do too. Oh, isn't that fantastic? So we agree. So you don't occupy a morally superior position.

[00:08:16] The difference here is how best to achieve these shared stated goals. Right? Now, just because I have a different path that I want to take to the same destination doesn't mean I'm evil. It just means I think this is a better path to get to the same destination that you claim you want to get to.

[00:08:38] So why don't we just have the discussion about the courses, about the paths, rather than why I'm taking the path? Right? But, obviously, the moral preening is necessary so you don't actually have to have the discussion about the policy or the paths. They don't want to have the policy debate. They would just rather ascribe the motive. Right? Say that you are morally inferior. Therefore, you're wrong. And you hate people.

[00:09:08] And so shut up. That's it. That's the whole point. So this is the formula, according to this political science and history professor at the University of Pikeville. The Fighting Pikes, I believe, is their mascot, the fish. So moderate economic stances, little bit of populism, have a candidate with a weird but relatable personal background,

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[00:10:57] and make memories that'll last a lifetime. Um, I just saw this post from Patrick. Yeah. A tweet from Patrick Raffini, who is a pollster at Echelon Insights. He says, A watershed moment as Pennsylvania becomes R-plus by presidential turnout. R-plus means a Republican advantage, obviously.

[00:11:24] A majority of the votes cast in, um, in Pennsylvania were for a Republican. Uh, they've got their final numbers now, I guess. Their final turnout. These are turnout numbers. That means you can, he says, that means you can throw out all the polling samples that had electorates of a D-plus-3. Which is like, if you're, if you're going to put a poll out into the field,

[00:11:52] you look at the, you know, uh, past elections, what the turnout was, what the voter registration is, and you try to weight your survey, your poll, based on that data. And so the polls were going out and they were trying to get 3% more Democrats than Republicans, because that historically was what the turnout, uh, what the turnout actually was, what the election results actually were. And so it was a D-plus-3.

[00:12:22] No longer. This was never going to be a D-plus year in Pennsylvania. He says, we were expecting Republicans to come out on top by like 25,000 votes, but the final total now is 65,000. That's, as he says, a watershed moment. And this ties into, quite nicely, the piece of persuasion, the Democrats trying to win back rural America. How will they do it?

[00:12:52] In a recent video, Jared Golden, uh, Congressman of Maine, um, the leader of the Blue Dogs, this is their vehicle that they say they're going to be using, described the group as, quote, rooted in loyalty to the community we represent. Tell me something without saying anything. Though localism is the central selling point of Blue Dogs, they combine it with other typical centrist beliefs,

[00:13:21] such as pluralism, intellectual humility, and gradualist politics. In 2023, Marie Glusenkamp-Perez, um, told the Washington Post, quote, it's not just about flipping seats for us, it's about the long work of turning the train around and, well, wouldn't you just run it the other direction?

[00:13:50] Isn't it turning the ship around? Because trains, I feel like those are easier to turn around because they're on tracks. And if you just make a track that's a circle, it'll just turn right around. Or just put the engines on the other side and haul it that way. Anyway, uh, look, I'm just pointing out the analogy doesn't really hold very well. But she says, getting back to place-based politics, that's what they're all about. Place-based politics.

[00:14:16] In other words, what might sell in, you know, Charlotte, probably doesn't sell as well in Frog Pond, North Carolina. For example, I'm just like, for example, right? They may not be the same types of messages. She says, got to get back to place-based politics and not focus-grouped Twitterati agendas.

[00:14:45] And look, I agree with this because the Democrat Party has become beholden to that very group, that latter group, right? These perpetually online younger people that are leftists because they came through leftist education indoctrination camps, a.k.a. government schools. And so they come out of there and that's how you end up with Joe Biden sounding like a commie.

[00:15:12] When Joe Biden never really sounded like that in all of his 17 decades in the Senate, right? First, they have to develop a cultural and ideological identity, however. How do they do that? How do the blue dogs do that? All right, I hope you had a happy holiday season, but tell me if something like this happened at your house. Your family and friends are gathered around. Maybe y'all are in the living room.

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[00:16:38] Back to the piece at persuasion.community.com by Jeffrey Tyler Syke, Assistant Professor of Political Science and History at the University of Pikeville in Kentucky, talking about the effort to revive the Blue Dog Democrats. And they're going to have some problems, I think.

[00:17:01] The Blue Dog's lack of a firm identity is, in many ways, a problem that plagues all centrists. What makes them different from the political extremes? On one hand, the Blue Dogs are Democrats, and they carry all the baggage that comes with that label. Fairly or not, voters see them as just progressives in sheep's clothing. Yes.

[00:17:27] Which, actually, if I go back to two paragraphs prior, he talked about describing them as a gradualist party or movement. Gradualist politics. Gradualist. What does that mean? It's like Fabian socialism. You just, you can't do it with the violent overthrow of the government, the revolution, because in a free society with a free market system,

[00:17:57] people are generally happy with that system. So you can't, you can't overthrow that system because you're going to make their lives pretty crummy in the short term, and then even worse in the long term. But they don't ever see that part. But gradualism. Right? So we know where we're going. We just have a different speed by which to get there. And so, yes, voters see blue dog Democrats as progressives wanting the same things,

[00:18:26] but just doing it a little bit more slowly. In other words, liars. Right? That's the problem. No one becomes a Democrat unless they basically believe in open borders and foisting socially radical views on the electorate. Or so goes the logic of many rural voters. That's how they see Democrats now. This is the problem that Democrats have. And it is, I might add, of their own making.

[00:18:54] Though this stereotype is something of a gross exaggeration, he says, there is a kernel of truth to it. And by kernel, I would suggest it's the whole popped corn. On a range of issues, he says, Democrats have moved far afield of the average American voter. Like, how do you write that sentence right after the last one? Oh, there's a kernel of truth to it. You know, insofar as the Democrats are like so far to the left of the average American now.

[00:19:22] This alone is perhaps not a serious issue for the party, except that Democrats tend to pounce on those who question their ideological doctrines with a fervor that would make New England's Puritan settlers proud. See, even he recognizes the problem inside the Democrat Party is shutuppery. As soon as somebody is like, well, you know what? I'm a Democrat. I like Democrats' policies more than I like Republican policies or whatever, except for, for example,

[00:19:51] I'm just going to pick one at random like abortion, right? I'm pro-life. I'm a pro-life Democrat. Well, then, sorry, you are dead to us as Democrats, right? Like, that's it. You cannot be pro-life in the Democrat Party any longer. At most, you can be pro-choice as long as that choice occurs like after eight months. Like, that's about it. You cannot be a politician in the Democrat Party and be pro-life any longer.

[00:20:20] Remember, there was one a couple of years ago, like three years ago, I want to say, and one of them came out and said I'm pro-life and they got primaried. Right? So, one need only look at the reactions from mainstream Democrats when blue dogs break with party orthodoxy. For example, Congresswoman Perez was recently savaged by fellow, quote, liberals for refusing to back Joe Biden's student loan forgiveness plan, which is not a forgiveness plan. It's a bailout.

[00:20:50] Golden, Jared Golden, was viciously attacked by fellow Democrats for his opposition to the Build Back Better scheme. Thus, on the left, blue dog Democrats are squeezed from both sides, two left wing for rural voters and two right wing to be happily accepted by their own party. We see this in North Carolina as well. This is why the Democrats, despite the Democrat Party chair,

[00:21:21] sippy cup, Clayton, right, despite her efforts to say y'all and drop a bunch of F-bombs as a mechanism to attract rural voters, they have not been successful in doing so. And it's why, or we see it play out in this fight with the latest one is Cecil Brockman. And we've covered that story. He's a state representative out of like Guilford County area, and he is for school choice.

[00:21:51] And for that, he is savaged. Trisha Cotham here in Mecklenburg County flipped her registration to Republican because of the way Democrats treated her, which was rooted in this one issue. So if you diverge from the Democrats playbook on anything, you are now the enemy. This is why I don't think blue dogs are going to be successful. I mean, not as a movement.

[00:22:20] They may very well win their particular race. They could very well keep winning their offices and win re-election. Except that woman from Alaska, she's already out. But, like, you could see where they could keep winning election in a Democrat area that has enough Republican voters that are okay with her as a blue dog kind of Democrat until she gets primary. And that's the problem for the blue dogs. Rural Democrats

[00:22:49] desperately need to attract the support of Trump voters. This requires the adoption of certain populist stances, which for most blue dogs has been in the realm of economics. So they are okay with Trump on some economics. The difficulty then is for the blue dogs to develop an identity that separates them from the leftists in the Democrat Party while also offering something that Trump cannot.

[00:23:19] Golden has taken himself to, he's taken to describing himself as a progressive conservative. They're going to call themselves a progressive, not that they're progressing towards conservatism. Right? Because that's what it sounds like. Classic Democrat move. Right? Call yourself something, brand yourself as some sort of a political philosophy that you are actually the opposite of. Right? I'm a liberal. Are you though? Yeah,

[00:23:47] you want to censor people's speech and stuff? That's not liberal. That is not liberal. Trust me. I grew up with liberals. I know a lot of liberals. I remember liberalism in its heyday and they were for free speech. These were the people that were mad about the warnings on music. You know? The appeal of the phrase likely lies in its ambiguous sound. It's actually though a rather apt description of the reconstituted blue dog Democrats. Yeah, I'm not buying it. All right. If you're listening to this show, you know I try to keep up

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[00:25:16] as they make the media landscape more transparent. By the way, the markets now are, they have increased, the betting markets have increased Pete Hegseth's chances for confirmation. He's got that going for him. Let's see here. Where was I? Oh, yes, that's right. The Blue Dogs and how they're totally going to win back rural Americans. They're not. It's not going to happen. Um, I guess it could. Anything could happen.

[00:25:47] So they're pitching themselves as progressive conservatives. We're progressive conservatives. That's my philosophy. I'm a progressive conservative. Democrat. The term was first coined in the late 19th century so that would be the 1800s as well as the early 20th centuries to refer to figures such as British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli and American President

[00:26:16] Teddy Roosevelt. So this is not a new moniker. Perhaps no politician has better embodied progressive conservatism according to Jeffrey Tyler Syke, assistant professor of political science and history at the University of Pikeville in Kentucky. No better politician or no politician has better embodied progressive conservatism quote unquote than New York Democrat Daniel Patrick

[00:26:46] Moynihan. Moynihan worked throughout his long career to combine the very best elements of the left and the right grounded in the understanding that quote is what he said that liberals are people who would like to see things improved and conservatives are people who would like to see things not worsened. Which my wife and I

[00:27:15] actually the other night we watched I don't remember the name of it but Bill Maher's latest stand-up and before you ask yes I did chuckle not belly laugh or guffaw but I did chuckle I think three times during the stand-up and this was kind of this was one of the things that I think he did well because it's a he's a political comedian he talks a lot about politics and such

[00:27:44] and over the last year or two he has really been laying into the lefties because they've just gone crazy and and he's calling them out for it and I was not aware but this apparently traces back to his attempt to get solar panels on his house and it took him three years to get solar panels because he had to go through all of these government agencies and stuff so you know even when he's trying to do the quote right thing by progressives

[00:28:15] he is still met with delays delays and costs and all of that so but he he had a good point when he described you know conservatives as like hey things aren't that bad things have gotten better and let's not break things that aren't broken just for the sake of breaking them at the heart of much progressive conservatism is a distrust of what William Butler Yates called the leveling rancorous rational sort of mind progressive conservatives

[00:28:45] believe that human progress hinges on respecting local custom and rejecting broad universal generalizations whether they be an ardent faith in the spread of democracy or the elevation of national identity above all else the central tenets of progressive conservatism must become the heart and soul of the blue dog Democrats agenda if they are to succeed he then recommends they tear a page from the conservatives

[00:29:14] playbook and how conservatives were able to ascend to where they have found themselves now which is create publications fund all sorts of think tanks and stuff like that to which I say good luck to you blue dog Democrats good luck to you or you could just join the Republicans just saying all right that'll do it for this episode thank you so much for listening I could not do the show without your support and the support of the businesses that advertise on the podcast

[00:29:44] so if you'd like please support them too and tell them you heard it here you can also become a patron at my Patreon page or go to the Pete Callender show dot com again thank you so much for listening and don't break anything while I'm gone