George Goehl, director of People’s Action, said on Hill.TV’s “Rising” that Democrats need to embrace populism if they want to win over rural voters.
Goehl said that the nation is in the middle of a populist moment that Democrats are not recognizing, adding that they fail to name some of the “villains” facing the nation such as pharmaceutical companies and “big banks.”
“Everybody talks about narratives these days, well narratives need villains and heroes,” Goehl said. “And, if you’re not going to name them, then the other side’s going to name them for you, and they will name women, people of color, Muslims, big government.”
Goehl noted that most rural voters would not trust someone that’s not going to directly address the issues they’re facing and promise to address them.
“I think most of the rural voters we talked to are like ‘I don’t trust someone who’s not willing to say to me yes someone’s responsible for this and I’m going to fight them for you,’” Goehl said. “So I think until Democrats fix that problem, there’s going to be a lot of struggles in rural communities.”
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