Consider This from NPR - How blue candidates might win in red districts

Episode Date: August 22, 2024

Before she became vice president, Kamala Harris had only ever won elections in California — a solid blue state.To win the White House, the Harris-Walz ticket will need to compete in purple and even red areas.At the Democratic National Convention, delegates and other attendees from conservative parts of the country offer what they think their party needs to do to reach voters in swing states and Republican strongholds.For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.Email us at [e-mail] more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear started his speech on stage at the Democratic National Convention by talking about abortion rights as a matter of humanity and empathy and as a winning issue for his re-election campaign. And I beat Donald Trump and Mitch McConnell's hand-picked candidate by more than five percentage points. Beshear is an increasingly rare figure, a Democrat who holds statewide office in a state where politics is dominated by Republicans. In Kentucky, Republicans have a supermajority in the state legislature and both U.S. Senate seats. But as he mentioned, Governor Beshear won another term in 2023. This November, we're going to beat them again. It's a useful example for the Harris-Walls campaign. One of Donald Trump's most common attacks on Kamala Harris is that she represents the most left-wing slice of America. And she is a radical left San Francisco liberal.

When you look at her history as a candidate, it is true that before Harris became vice president, she has only won elections in solidly blue liberal places to become San Francisco district attorney, attorney general for the state of California, and then a senator from California. Consider this. To win the White House, the Harris-Walls ticket will need to appeal to voters in purple, maybe even red areas. We asked Democrats who live in those areas, what could make that happen? From NPR. A lot of the delegates at the Democratic National Convention have come here to Chicago from more conservative parts of the country.

I asked them what they think Democrats need to do to reach voters where they're from. It's so important for leaders to step up and say, let's take a step back and let's recognize and take a moment to realize where we all have shared values. And really the bottom line is showing up. And if she can show that I'm showing up and I'm listening, saying, I see you, I hear you. Not only do we need to show up, we need to also make sure that we are meeting people where they are. That's Leah Midgarden of Minnesota, Chris Jones of Arkansas, and Bree Maxwell of South Carolina. Maxwell is director of rural coalitions for the

DNC. She says meeting people where they are means talking about the things that are important to them, not culture wars, but basic needs. We all deserve clean water, access to health care, making sure that K-12 education is funded, making sure that women have access to reproductive care. And as she sees it, a lot of the work her party needs to do in red state America is unglamorous and invisible. Making sure that we are investing into coordinated campaigns in these

states and making sure that we are investing into statewide voter registration. It goes back to the idea of showing up. She says Democrats have not prioritized that in rural areas until now. And then there's the tone. Leah Midgarden was raised on a North Dakota farm and now lives in Red Wing, Minnesota, population 16,000. There's a real sense from rural people that we are looked down on by urban elites. Speakers at the DNC seemed to get the memo. There was no talk of deplorables, as Hillary Clinton once put it in a speech, or people who get bitter and cling to guns or religion, as President Obama once said at a private fundraiser.

Here's how Minnesota Governor Tim Walz talked about his upbringing in Nebraska. That family down the road, they may not think like you do. They may not pray like you do. They may not love like you do. But they're your neighbors. For all the optimism and enthusiasm in Chicago, the numbers are very clear, and they don't look good for Democrats. The party's performance in rural America has been sinking steadily for more than a decade. But you can find places on the map

where Democrats have won statewide elections in red states. And those campaigns often have the same guy working behind the scenes. Eric Hires, a Democratic political strategist. I mean, you have been called a Democrat in a red state whisperer. Would you embrace that title? I do. I do. Before the convention began, I asked Hires what the secret is to someone like Andy Beshear winning in Kentucky or Roy Cooper in North Carolina, both Democratic governors in red states.

He said there's a good example in eastern Kentucky. J.D. Vance talks about a county that he says was his ancestral home, and that county was won by Donald Trump, I want to say by 53 or 55 percent. Andy Beshear also won that county by 22 percent. So that is a swing of like 75 points. But yes, movement is possible. He told me to win a county like that, the messenger matters as much as the message. So we had sheriffs, we had Republican business owners,

and we kept that going for many, many, many weeks. Most of the high-profile Democratic politicians who've carried red states are white men. Chris Jones of Arkansas ran an unsuccessful campaign for governor against Sarah Huckabee Sanders. He's black, and he said, of course, it's not a coincidence that the Democratic winners in red states have generally been white men,

but the past doesn't have to predict the future. If you look at most sectors in the U.S. over the last 200 years, it's been white men. So it's not unique to the Democratic Party. It's across the board. I do think if you look at the bench on a Democratic ticket, you'll see folks in places like Georgia. So Georgia's rule. Stacey Abrams did a phenomenal job. Raphael Warnock did a phenomenal job, and he's our current senator. The trend lines for Democrats in red areas aren't going to flip overnight. But the path to victory might not require Harris to get a majority in areas that Trump won four years ago.

It might be enough just to lose in those counties by a little bit less. This episode was produced by Mia Venkat, Kira Joaquim, and Brianna Scott. It was edited by Ashley Brown and Patrick Jaron-Watanan. Our executive producer is Sammy Yenigan. And one more thing before we go. You can now enjoy the Consider This newsletter. We still help you break down a major story of the day, but you'll also get to know our producers and hosts and some moments of joy from the All Things Considered team. You can sign up at npr.org slash consider this newsletter. It's Consider This from NPR. I'm Ari Shapiro.