Some Democrats say they fear their party will become politically extinct in the rural U.S., 'the brand is so toxic'

"The Democratic Party’s struggle in rural America has been building for years. And it’s getting worse," Steve Peoples of The Associated Press reports from the often-pivotal Keystone State, where "Some Democrats here in rural Pennsylvania are afraid to tell you they’re Democrats."

With a dateline of Smethport, population 1,600, Peoples writes, "The party’s brand is so toxic in the small towns 100 miles northeast of Pittsburgh that some liberals have removed bumper stickers and yard signs and refuse to acknowledge their party affiliation publicly. These Democrats are used to being outnumbered by the local Republican majority, but as their numbers continue to dwindle, the few that remain are feeling increasingly isolated and unwelcome in their own communities.

“The hatred for Democrats is just unbelievable,” accountant Tim Holohan told Peoples. “I feel like we’re on the run.”

In Tennessee, where the Republican legislature split up Rep. Jim Cooper's Nashville district, prompting him to forgo a re-election bid that would have been futile, the veteran Democrat "warns that the party is facing extinction in small-town America," Peoples writes, quoting him: “It’s hard to sink lower than we are right now. You’re almost automatically a pariah in rural areas if you have a D after your name.”

Joe Biden won 527 counties in 2020. That was 348 fewer than Barack Obama did in 2008, and 260 of those counties are rural, Peoples reports: "The worst losses were concentrated in the Midwest . . . At the same time, recent Republican voter registration gains in swing states like Florida and North Carolina were fueled disproportionately by rural voters. . . . Even if Democrats continue to eke out victories by piling up urban and suburban votes, former Sen. Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota fears her party will have 'unstable majorities' if they cannot stop the bleeding in rural areas."

Heitkamp "criticized her party’s go-to strategy for reaching rural voters: focusing on farmers and vowing to improve high-speed internet," Peoples reports. "At the same time, she said Democrats are hurting themselves by not speaking out more forcefully against far-left positions that alienate rural voters, such as the push to 'defund the police'." Peoples writes, "The Democratic Party continues to devote the vast majority of its energy, messaging and resources to voters in more populated urban and suburban areas."

In some rural places, the ugliness of national politics has become local. Peoples reports that in Clarion, Pa., pop. 5,600, "a group of voters said they’ve been effectively ostracized by their community — and even family members, in some cases — for being Democrats. One woman brings her political signs inside at night so they aren’t vandalized or stolen."

“You have to be careful around here,” said Barbara Speer, 68, a retired sixth-grade teacher.