I get in trouble as a Democrat saying this about working forests & logging jobs lost in NW MT.

We’ll never get back those industries but we need to get back the prosperity for working families.

(a thread) https://twitter.com/kemc/status/1330947876172615681

Entire towns in western Montana thrived off of the mining & logging industries.

They provided opportunity for a family to buy a home, have health insurance, own 2 cars, send your kids to college.

Know why? Because these were also union towns that bled blue.

A lot’s changed since then. That model is outdated & gone. And now we have a cataclysmic climate emergency on the horizon.

But imagine living in these towns that have seen their opportunity vanish completely.

Replaced with wealthy out-of-stater’s second (and third) mansions - raising the cost of their land (& property taxes).

You’re stuck in a tourism-based economy offering mostly service industry jobs.

You’re surrounded by peak American wealth - but it’s out of your reach.

The minimum wage is $8.50/hr - having barely risen in your lifetime. Yet your expenses are higher than ever.

Healthcare is no longer provided in most jobs and premiums on the market are sky high.

Internet sucks.

The quasi-public timberlands you learned to hunt on from your parents/grandparents are sold by the former logging company to nefarious billionaire brothers.

600k+ acres are now under threat to be turned into more high-end development. More golf courses. More obscenities.

Now imagine when the Democrat comes to town and tells you their solution is to “keep your public lands in public hands.”

You can get healthcare once you turn 55 and can buy into Medicare.

And those jobs you loved are horrible and never coming back.

Then Republicans come in and tell you that we can get logging back.

Not only that but (clear) cutting down the trees will solve this climate change hoax you keep hearing libs whine about.

We’ll lower your property taxes because that’s who we are: more jobs less taxes.

It’s all bullshit of course. But how do they know that?

The media is no longer trusted and the noise in all directions is so loud.

I just worked 50 hours this week - I don’t have time for politics. Give it to me straight and to the point.

And that’s what Republicans do out here. Simplify things and ‘give it to them straight.’

Meanwhile the Dem message is all over the place you’re turned off by grievance-based politics.

Throughout every election you’re inundated with nonstop attack ads coming from everywhere out of your state.

They say Democrats are crazy. Some are even pedophiles. But mostly they’re going to cost you your job and raise your taxes.

Not all rural & exurban voters are driven by racism and hate. They’re mostly driven by survival.

They know things are broken. The system is rigged. They need to look out for themselves and their families.

If Dems want to win back these places then we better well stop insulting them and try to listen & learn.

They know the climate and weather is changing. They know it’s the elites that are keeping them down.

They aren’t asking for much, just a chance.

So we sell them on what impacts their life.

A higher minimum wage.

Thousands of new climate jobs + sustainable, working forests.

The internet as a right - rural broadband everywhere.

Universal childcare.

Free 2 year college & trade schools.

We’ve already tried to win them over by moderation & small ‘c’ conservatism.

We lost. BIG

We’ll never out-fear the GOP.

What do we have to lose being bold & leading w/ an aggressive working families economic message?

Repub’s aren’t shy w/ who they are. We shouldn’t be either.