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Thomas Friedman, the Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist for The New York Times, recently advanced an interesting proposal.
He wrote that Kamala Harris âis too smart and energetic to be just the vice president, a position with few official responsibilities. Iâd love to see President-elect Joe Biden give her a more important job: his de facto secretary of rural development, in charge of closing the opportunity gap, the connectivity gap, the learning gap, the start-up gap â and the anger and alienation gap â between rural America and the rest of the country.â
He framed part of his idea in political terms â that Biden (and Harris) won by running up big numbers in the suburbs, where voters recoiled against President Trump. With Trump out of the way, future Democrats may not be able to count on such a big share of the suburban vote. Itâs in Democratsâ political interest to show some interest in rural America in hopes of picking up some extra votes th
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Good Monday morning, Illinois. It seems like Groundhog Day as House Democrats spend another January reviewing impeachment charges against Donald Trump.
TOP TALKER
Illinois Speaker Michael Madigan failed to win the 60 votes needed among fellow Democrats for his reelection bid to lead the state House, putting him in a precarious position to keep hold of a gavel he’s wielded for nearly four decades.
The Daily Yonder Commentary: The ‘Cracker Barrel vs. Whole Foods Gap’ Threatens Democracy We know why many rural residents are angry with urban elites. If we don’t confront the problem, democracy itself is on the line.
A version of this article was previously published by Newsweek.
As a life-long Democrat who grew up in the deep South during Jim Crow, I am proud of the election of the Biden-Harris ticket. Yet, I have a deep concern that the Democratic Party lacks the resolve to undertake the major initiatives necessary to repair the urban-rural/small-town divide. It will not be enough for the new administration to rely on rhetoric about the need to heal this rift. And it will take more than increased spending on current rural focused programs.