Rural Democrats say they feel increasingly isolated

Clearfield County (Wikipedia map)

Many rural Democrats say they feel increasingly isolated as non-metropolitan areas trend ever rightward. One exemplar of that is Clearfield County, Pennsylvania, about 100 miles northeast of Pittsburgh; it was once the most evenly divided polity in the nation, but no more, Christopher Cadelago reports for Politico.

"Barrels of ink have been spilled over the past seven years examining Donald Trump’s appeal in rural places like Clearfield County," Cadelago writes. "Blue-collar 'diner stories' about disaffected Democrats and independents who crossed over to support Republicans are so common they’ve become their own media subgenre. And the reasons for that massive defection have become familiar from repetition—the erosion of manufacturing and energy jobs, the withdrawal of private-sector labor unions, an explosion of technology and expanding cultural divisions. What those tales often leave out is the other side of the same coin. In these towns and counties, there remain thousands of Democrats ... who are faithful to their party—and feel that they are paying an increasingly steep price for that loyalty. Nearly 30,000 people in Clearfield County voted for Trump in 2020, roughly three-quarters of the ballots cast. But the other 25 percent who voted for Joe Biden—9,673 people—find themselves in an unusual position: They supported the ultimate winner and yet a relentless and toxic campaign to delegitimize his victory and overturn the election makes them feel somehow as if they’re under siege."