Inside the Beltway: Dirt Road Democrats hope to revive party’s rural fortunes

NEWS AND OPINION:

Consider this newly formed organization: “Dirt Road Democrats PAC.”

This political action committee has debuted on the Democratic landscape in recent days, and it already has been active in Indiana, Mississippi and Virginia.

“Heading into the 2024 election cycle, Dirt Road Democrats, a PAC founded to invest in rural voters, recently announced its Q4 investments of over $200,000. These investments are helping Democrats gain back ground that has been lost in rural areas over the past two decades, especially in the South and will go towards funding voter turnout efforts, staff, canvassing, and more,” the organization said in a written statement shared with Inside the Beltway.

“We are confident that we will take back the places where Democrats have stopped competing,” said Scott Hogan, senior strategic adviser to Dirt Road Democrats PAC.

President Biden, meanwhile, is also courting rural voters, recently paying a call on Northfield, Minnesota — population 20,729.

“When rural America does well, when Indian Country does well, we all do well,” the president told his audience, advising that he had set aside several billion dollars to shore up rural infrastructure and local job creation among other things.

“Folks, Bidenomics is just another way of saying ‘the American dream,’” he told his audience.

There’s a contributing reason for this sudden interest in the heartland.

“Rural voters continue to be reliable GOP supporters, and urban voters continue to favor Democrats. In 2022, this split was as wide as it’s been in recent elections: 69% of rural voters cast ballots for Republicans, with just 29% supporting Democrats,” reported the Pew Research Center in a wide-ranging report released July 12.

2024 INTEREST INTENSIFIES

Voters already appear intensely interested in the 2024 presidential election, though the big day is essentially a year off. Some of these voters appear very anxious to get to the polls, in fact.

These are new findings from CBS News released Sunday: 75% of U.S. adults say they “definitely will vote” in the election, another 14% say they “probably will vote.” Among the few remaining respondents, 5% “maybe” will vote, 3% “don’t know,” 2% “probably” will not vote, and a mere 1% proclaim that “definitely will not vote.”

How about the candidate choice here? In a hypothetical bout, former President Donald Trump has a little edge over the current president: 51% of the respondents say they would vote for Mr. Trump, 48% would side with President Biden.

What about the emotional side of things? The CBS poll covered that as well.

Here’s how a 2024 rematch between former and current presidents made them feel: 66% felt nervous, 65% felt frustrated, 54% felt motivated, 50% felt hopeful, 35% felt excited, 27% said they were just plain bored.

See more numbers and the survey particulars in the Poll du Jour at column’s end.

Meanwhile, press coverage in the last 24 hours of the next presidential match is increasing.

“The 2024 election rematch Americans are dreading looks likely,” noted The Wall Street Journal on Sunday, referring to a Biden-Trump rematch.

“On year before voting, a weakened Biden and a criminally indicted Trump appear to be on a collision course,” the Journal said.

The Associated Press added in its analysis of the emerging rematch: “Voters are skeptical of Biden’s age. But Trump’s notable flubs risk drawing unwelcome attention too.”

WHAT RONNA SAID

So the countdown to the 2024 presidential election is on. On Sunday, the Republican National Committee indeed issued a formal reminder that the nation was “one year out from Election Day 2024.”

The committee is going a little further than that, launching a new initiative titled “Bank Your Vote.” Here’s how it works.

“The Bank Your Vote initiative encourages GOP voters to get your vote in and make absolutely sure that your voice is heard in the critical 2024 elections,” said committee chairwoman Ronna McDaniel in a new video outreach.

“In all 56 states and territories, your Republican Party will be working hard to get our voters to vote by mail or early in-person, and ballot harvest where permitted. We can’t do it without you though — so share this site with family and friends to make sure they bank their vote, too,” she advised.

SEEKING BALLOT CHASERS

There are more initiatives out there. Turning Point Action — a conservative nonprofit organization founded by national radio host, author and activist Charlie Kirk — is also upping the ante.

“Turning Point Action is stepping up our game to create the largest and most impactful ballot chasing operation that our Pro-America Movement has ever seen,” the organization said in a public outreach shared with the Beltway.

The push is simply called “Chase the Vote,” and their mission is to “mobilize America’s freedom fighters to chase every ballot.” And who are these freedom fighters?

The organization describes them as “America-loving field organizers who will work on the group, hand in hand with true grassroots leaders,” the outreach said.

Find the organization at TPaction.com.

POLL DU JOUR

• 31% of registered U.S. voters expect the U.S. economy to be “in recession” in 2024; 46% of Republicans, 39% of independents and 11% of Democrats agree.

• 28% expect the U.S. economy to be “slowing, but not in recession”; 31% of Republicans, 30% of independents and 19% of Democrats agree.

• 22% expect the economy to be “holding steady”; 13% of Republicans, 20% of independents and 34% of Democrats agree.

• 15% expect the economy to be “growing, but not booming”; 7% of Republicans, 10% of independents and 27% of Democrats agree.

• 4% expect the economy to be “booming”; 3% of Republicans, 1% of independents and 9% of Democrats agree.

SOURCE: A CBS News/YouGov survey of 2,636 U.S. adults conducted from Oct. 30 to Nov. 3.