Bring Us Home!!

A letter from Disaffected Rural Democrats

For over two years I have been searching for a way to write this letter. Winning back even a fraction of the voter’s we’ve lost in small industrial towns and rural counties across the country will narrow the divide in this nation. I haven’t lived in one of those towns for a very long time and no longer know the language or understand the sentiments of small towns like I once did.

This is a product of my two years’ journey to find a way to understand voters I don’t any longer understand and those I have never known. It was written by the 18 men and women who live in rural and small town Ohio we found in our recent Sentiment Model. They were once part of our family and we lost them. We need them to come home.

I hope we can all learn from what they have to say to us.

An Open Letter from Disaffected Rural Democrats:

What We Need to See to Come Home

Dear Democratic Party Leadership,

We write to you not as adversaries, but as former supporters—many of us raised in Democratic households, some of us lifelong voters, all of us people who once believed in your promise to stand for working families, fairness, and the American Dream.

But over the past decade, something has changed. Many of us find ourselves growing distant, doubtful, even disillusioned. It’s not because we’ve changed. It’s because the party we once called home seems to have lost touch with who we are and what matters most in our lives.

We want you to hear us—not as pundits or pollsters, but in the plainspoken language of rural Ohio, of everyday Americans.

You’ve Forgotten the Working People

We grew up with stories of Democrats standing up for the steel worker, the farmer, the teacher, the union family. Our parents lined up for free milk and butter in hard times. We believed the Democratic Party was “for the working man,” not for the wealthy or the powerful. But now, too often, your message feels like it’s for someone else. We don’t see you fighting for good jobs in our towns, for affordable housing, for a fair shot for our kids.

Empty Promises and Broken Trust

We’re tired of the speeches, the slogans, and the promises that never seem to materialize. You talk about change, but all we see are rising costs—at the grocery store, at the doctor’s office, on our rent bills. We hear about “helping the people,” but when the government shuts down, it’s our food stamps and medical benefits that get cut, while the politicians keep fighting each other in Washington.

Some of us once believed in Obama’s hope and change, or trusted the party of Clinton to balance the budget. But now, it feels like you’ve grown weak, more interested in corporate donors and big-city interests than the small towns and rural communities that have been your backbone for generations.

Disconnected from Rural Reality

You want to talk about inclusivity and progress. Those are good things. But sometimes it feels like you care more about what’s happening overseas or in urban centers than what’s happening right here—where our neighbors are struggling with addiction, where our schools are underfunded, where family farms are vanishing and small businesses can’t compete with big box stores.

We see your policies on energy or green jobs, but nobody’s coming to build a factory in our town. We hear about helping “everyone,” but sometimes it feels like, in trying to help everyone, you’ve forgotten about us.

What Must Change

If you want our support again, here’s what we need to see:

• Fight for Working and Rural Families: Bring back your focus on jobs and economic security. Invest in Main Street, not just Wall Street. Create pathways for trades, small manufacturing, and farming to thrive.

• Keep Your Promises: We need to see action, not just words. When you say you’ll protect our healthcare, do it. When you say you’ll bring down costs, show us how. When you promise to invest in rural schools, roads, and hospitals, follow through.

• Listen—Really Listen: Show up in our towns. Hold town halls. Talk with—not at—us. Ask what we need and build policy from the ground up, not the top down.

• Restore Honesty and Accountability: Admit when mistakes are made. Stop the infighting. Put people above party, above profits, above political games. Hold your own leaders accountable, as you would expect from the other side.

• Balance Progress and Tradition: Don’t just chase the latest trend or cause—respect the values that built our communities. Champion progress, but don’t forget the pride we feel in hard work, faith, and family.

If You Want to Be the Better Party—Prove It

We’re not asking for perfection. We’re asking for a party that remembers its roots and stands up for ordinary people. We’re asking for practical solutions, honest leadership, and a willingness to fight for those of us too often left behind.

If you want to be the party of the people, show us—don’t just tell us.

We’re listening. We’re waiting. And if you come back to us, we’re ready to come home.

Sincerely,

The Disaffected Democrats of Rural Ohio

This piece was written and informed by a GroupStack sentiment model of OH small town/agriculture county residents. To learn more about sentiment modeling, text me at 202-679-8120. Thank you for your support. Mark Sump mark@groupstack.tech