Friday Signpost: Hightower on Rural Voters, Populism Resurgences and Texas Politics

Photo by Clayton Tucker

As we’ve seen more and more people recognizing the power of rural progressives, Hightower has been spending time with a number of journalists these last few months, sharing his perspective on the origins of populist power (and we mean “populist” in the real sense of the word, not the ridiculous notion that loud, authoritarian extremists are somehow “of the people”). There has been a particular focus on Texas, which we find heartening: is it maybe finally time that more people understand that Texas is not a “red” state, but a nonvoting, gerrymandered-to-high-heaven state with loads of people who have progressive values? Here’s Hightower explaining how the Democrats abandoned its rural voters years ago, but maybe—just maybe—they’re starting to realize that we’re a powerful force that can stitch lots of different kinds of people together.