Two years ago, Anthony Flaccavento of the Rural Urban Bridge Initiative, Dave Alba from the Progressive Democrats of America, and I co-authored a Rural New Deal proposal that put forward an unapologetically progressive set of policies addressing the endemic problems facing rural and small-town communities across the country.
The response to the Rural New Deal proposal has been overwhelmingly positive among those who have come in contact with it, but that number remains far too low. The Republican Party dominates the politics of rural and small-town America, and the centrist-led Democratic Party of recent decades has consistently decided not to invest in building a competitive opposition. However, there’s a vast difference between what centrist Democrats and progressive Democrats have to offer rural and small-town Americans. Namely, the progressive programs in the Rural New Deal directly address the primary economic concerns of a broadly dissatisfied public and propose appealing solutions – more so than anything on offer from centrist Democrats and Republicans alike.
Clearly, the ideas in the Rural New Deal need to gain a breakthrough so they can receive a broader hearing. This brings us to the Rural Urban Bridge Initiative’s new project, that PDS is endorsing. It’s called “Beyond Resistance: Reclaiming Our Nation for the Workers Who Built It.”
Beyond Resistance’s official launch event is on Wednesday, Sept. 10, with Rep. Ro Khanna and PDA’s Alan Minsky among many others – but you’ll get a sneak peek at the Beyond Resistance strategy on Sunday.
We’ll also be joined by Aftyn Behn, who is running for Congress in a special election in Tennessee’s 7th district to replace Rep Mark Green, a GOP Congressman who left Congress after voting to defund Medicaid and critical safety net protections in Trump’s awful bill.
Though Nashville is a progressive place and the economic driver of the state, MAGA statehouse officials sliced it into three congressional districts in one of the most extreme forms of Republican gerrymandering to date. Instead of being represented by a Democrat or two in Congress, Nashville has three different extremist MAGA Republicans who all live far outside the city limits. TN-7 is one of those districts, and if Aftyn can win the race, she will make history by overturning this undemocratic gerrymandering.
Aftyn will update everyone and let us know how PDA activists can best help build support for her campaign. Early voting in the District 7 special election primary starts soon. RSVP here.
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