Put rage aside and try reason

Here in Iowa, when we talk of blight, we are usually speaking of a growth that harms or even kills a plant or leaves a whole field near worthless. But there is political blight across the land as well and two very responsible journalists have recently published a book about it, “White Rural Rage.”

What they describe is not pretty. It is not what most of us, across the political spectrum, think of as America the beautiful, or what a good society should be. The reporters, Tom Schaller and Paul Waldman conclude rural whites are “the most racist, xenophobic, anti-immigrant, anti-gay geodemographic group in the country.” Even worse, they are “most likely to excuse or justify violence as an acceptable alternative.” Simply, Schaller and Waldman find white rural America to be “the most conspiracist group,” “anti-democratic,” “white nationalist and white Christian nationalists” around.

Not everyone agrees, of course, finding them overstated, stereotyping, condescending, and reflecting the prejudices of city boys who have never seen the inside of a barn. That may be. But in our last election, 94 of our 99 Iowa counties voted an unambiguous red. If not filled with rage, some who got their votes and served in Des Moines were.

I wish I could attribute the anger to the presence and influence of Donald Trump, but it seems even beyond him. Our world of political opponents has turned into a bedlam of enemies, of them and us. It hasn’t always been so.

Once upon a time, there were political liberals playing in the haystacks in our fields. Iowa had Democrats as governors and senators. We had an occasional liberal Republican congressmen like Jim Leach. We were a rural state with a few big cities. No one ever spoke of “white rural rage” and, had they, it would not have seemed neither appropriate or accurate.

A couple of decades ago when I looked down on Iowa from Minnesota, it was a geographic description, not a political one. I worked in Minnesota for the Democratic Farmer Labor party, a fusion of liberal forces that were rarely successful working separately. The most radical were mainly farm organizations and a few labor leaders.

Our candidates like Eugene McCarthy, Walter Mondale, and Hubert Humphrey had all grown up in rural areas. Their colleagues here, Harold Hughes, John Culver, Tom Harkin and Dick Clark reflected that same ethos. Republicans in both states were often children of immigrants, more likely filled with caring than rage, more social gospel than fire and damnation.

What Schaller and Waldman reported is far different.

White rural Americans make up about 15% of voters and might be dismissed as a fringe with little irrelevance. They are not. In 2016, they made Trump president.

After 2016, when rural voters in Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania put former President Donald Trump over the top, in 2020, they elected senators, congressmen, and governors who encourage division, the world of rage, the world of Trump.

When the votes are counted in the fall, I hope red Iowa counties say to Waldman and Schaller, you're wrong.

Norman Sherman of Coralville has worked extensively in politics, including as Vice President Hubert Humphrey’s press secretary.