News and Media

“Pushing Democrats to move beyond resistance”

Rural Americans — and a Rural New Deal — could be the key to a new wave of economic populism.

“Working-class Americans, another key source of Trump’s presidency, are struggling under the weight of soaring costs, layoffs and manufacturing job losses, and his evisceration of worker protections. Unemployment keeps rising, now at its highest since September 2021 amid the Covid-19 meltdown. Rural coal miners, many of whom voted for Trump, protested the president recently for failing to enforce black lung protections even as more (and increasingly younger) miners die from the disease. Many rural Trump voters have expressed buyer’s remorse over the Department of Government Efficiency gutting protections for public lands, parks, wildlife and other conservation enforcement.
Could these working-class and rural Americans be the key to toppling Trump’s reign of destruction — and delivering economic justice and equity? Could a movement of progressive populists, independents and rural communities go “beyond resistance” and help spur a new wave of economic populism?”
Christopher D. Cook in Salon

Rethinking Rural: RUBI’s Column in The Nation

"The Farmland Revolt"

America’s farmers are fuming over Trump’s tariffs. Democrats need to channel their anger.
January 26, 2026

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"How to Place Rural Communities at the Heart of the Anti-Trump Movement"

Rural activists are ready to take their place and play their part in the coalitions that are forming.
October 27, 2025

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"Rebuilding Trust Across the Divide Isn’t Just Possible—It’s Essential"

And here’s how it can be done.
August 29, 2025

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"If Democrats Want to Appeal to Rural America, They Need to Talk Like a Neighbor"

Saving a democracy that has delivered diminishing returns for 50 years—and is widely seen as rigged on behalf of the 1 percent—is not as compelling as the political class thinks.
July 11, 2025

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"Republicans’ “Big Beautiful” Medicaid Cuts Spur Rural Organizing Innovation"

Taking away healthcare coverage isn’t just “morally wrong and politically suicidal,” in Senator Josh Hawley’s apt phrase. It’s also putting pressure on rural members of Congress.
May 30, 2025

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"Rural Trump Voters Won’t Regret Their Vote Until Democrats Fight for Them"

Trump promised to address the opioid epidemic and restore small towns to health and prosperity. The president has betrayed those who placed their trust in him.
April 23, 2025

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"Welcome to Bozangeles!"

The greater Bozeman, Montana, region has become ground zero for rampant luxury development that is taking the “public” out of public lands.
March 27, 2025

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"Resistance Is Not Enough. The Left Must Address the Grievances of the Working Class."

The left’s almost singular focus on defense is a grave mistake. We must offer a compelling, positive vision of what we are for.

February 27, 2025

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"What’s—Still—the Matter With Kansas?"

As recent events bear out, when Thomas Frank lamented, “We’ll have to drag the Democrats kicking and screaming to victory” in 2017, if anything he was understating the challenge.
November 26, 2024

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"Harris-Walz Must Reclaim Progressivism for Workers, Farmers, and Rural Communities"

To win in 2024, Harris and Walz must wholeheartedly commit to a populist vision that makes people’s economic self-determination every bit as important as control of our own bodies.
October 31, 2024

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"Democrats Dismiss JD Vance at Their Peril"

Calling the Ohio senator “weird” may feel satisfying. Pundits have dismissed him as a drag on the ticket. But the smarter play would still be to steal his thunder.
September 6, 2024

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"The Missing Pieces of the Democrats’ Rural Offer Could Fill a Barnyard"

Rural America looms large in the 2024 election. So why is it such a small piece of the Progressive Caucus agenda?
August 13, 2024

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"Working-Class Americans Prefer a “Hand Up” to a “Handout”"

Working- and middle-class Americans take pride in their work. If Democrats want to win their votes, they need to acknowledge and appeal to that pride, not dismiss or patronize it.
July 23, 2024

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"Paul Krugman May Not Know How to Reverse the Decline of Rural America. But We Do."

The countryside has been neglected for decades. A Rural New Deal would reverse that with capital and creative solutions writen by and for rural Americans.
June 12, 2024

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"It’s Not Too Late for Democrats to Win Back Rural Voters"

Putting together a Democratic majority in 2024 requires winning back some portion of the rural working class. The good news is that it can be done. Here’s how.
May 17, 2024

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"The Only Thing Worse Than Taking Rural Voters for Granted"

… is dismissing them as out of reach for Democrats.
April 15, 2024

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#RethinkingRural

RUBI in the News

"Pushing Democrats to move beyond resistance"

Rural Americans — and a Rural New Deal — could be the key to a new wave of economic populism
By Christopher D. Cook

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"Democrats plan a new investment in winning rural voters, who've fled the party"

RUBI’s Anthony Flaccavento, on NPR’s Morning Edition, on the need for economically populist policies

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"From 'No Kings' to 'A Fair Shot"

The fight to defend democracy will succeed only if it is rooted in the everyday economic realities that drive people’s disillusionment with politics in the first place.
Jared Abbott from the Center for Working Class Politics

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"Beyond Resistance - and Special Elections"

Justin Vassallo profiles the Beyond Resistance Campaign in the Liberal Patriot.

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"America’s Fractured Politics"

RUBI’s ED talks with author Mark Mansour about the Rural New Deal, a vision for a bottom up economy, and organizing against tyranny within and without the Democratic Party.

Listen
"Sowing a Rural Insurgency"

New organizing groups agitate for a healthy share of resources to rebuild the Democratic image in left-behind communities.
Justin Vassallo in The American Prospect

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"A Tough Row to Hoe: funding rural races and spaces"

Jess Piper on RUBI’s DNC efforts in The View from Rural Missouri

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"Rural Voters Aren't the Enemy"

The New York Times’ Farah Stockman speaks to RUBI’s ED, Anthony Flaccavento, about his reaction to the book “White Rural Rage.”

Read It

News and Media

“Pushing Democrats to move beyond resistance”

"The Farmland Revolt"

"How to Place Rural Communities at the Heart of the Anti-Trump Movement"

"Rebuilding Trust Across the Divide Isn’t Just Possible—It’s Essential"

"If Democrats Want to Appeal to Rural America, They Need to Talk Like a Neighbor"

"Republicans’ “Big Beautiful” Medicaid Cuts Spur Rural Organizing Innovation"

"Rural Trump Voters Won’t Regret Their Vote Until Democrats Fight for Them"

"Welcome to Bozangeles!"

"Resistance Is Not Enough. The Left Must Address the Grievances of the Working Class."

"What’s—Still—the Matter With Kansas?"

"Harris-Walz Must Reclaim Progressivism for Workers, Farmers, and Rural Communities"

"Democrats Dismiss JD Vance at Their Peril"

"The Missing Pieces of the Democrats’ Rural Offer Could Fill a Barnyard"

"Working-Class Americans Prefer a “Hand Up” to a “Handout”"

"Paul Krugman May Not Know How to Reverse the Decline of Rural America. But We Do."

"It’s Not Too Late for Democrats to Win Back Rural Voters"

"The Only Thing Worse Than Taking Rural Voters for Granted"

"Pushing Democrats to move beyond resistance"

"Democrats plan a new investment in winning rural voters, who've fled the party"

"From 'No Kings' to 'A Fair Shot"

"Beyond Resistance - and Special Elections"

"America’s Fractured Politics"

"Sowing a Rural Insurgency"

"A Tough Row to Hoe: funding rural races and spaces"

"Rural Voters Aren't the Enemy"