Some Democrats here in rural Pennsylvania are afraid to tell you they're Democrats.
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," said Tim Holohan, an accountant based in rural McKean County who recently encouraged his daughter to get rid of a pro-Joe Biden bumper sticker. "I feel like we're on the run."
The climate across rural Pennsylvania is symptomatic of a larger political problem threatening the Democratic Party ahead of the 2022 midterm elections. Beyond losing votes in virtually every election since 2008, Democrats have been effectively ostracized from many parts of rural America, leaving party leaders with few options to reverse a cultural trend that is redefining the nation's political landscape.
Pennsylvania is, of course, the center of my universe. What the article says about the Dem brand outside of our cities is true. And, I think it's true across the nation as a whole.
What's been the formula here is that...until about a generation ago, the Dems were the party of the people...and, Pennsylvania was a Blue state.
More recently, woke elites have taken over the party and, increasingly, to be a Dem in rural areas, is to be an outsider.
Pennsylvania has become purple, not red, because of the power of Dem machines in the cities...especially Philadelphia.
The question for the next decade is whether GOP efforts to increase election integrity in the cities succeed.
A whistle-blower has released videos from Delaware County, near Philadelphia, exposing election officials acknowledging that Dems allow shenanigans in the counting of its ballots. To deny the possibility of vote fraud in Pennsylvania in the victory of "that feckless dementia-ridden piece of crap" now is to bury one's head in the sand.
If there's a conspiracy, in Pennsylvania, it's the Dems who have been busted.
The Dem brand is increasingly toxic. If Dems can't cheat...?
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