A researcher whose work was used by left-wing academics to slam white rural voters as the ‘greatest threat to the country’ said they got his work completely wrong in an effort to demonize Donald Trump’s supporters.
Nicholas Jacobs, a political science professor at Colby College in rural Maine, wrote an opinion article for Politico on Friday, debunking the authors of “White Rural Rage,” which leftists cite to denounce white conservatives in rural communities as undermining U.S. democracy.
Jacobs recounted that the authors, Tom Schaller and Paul Waldman, while on the MSNBC show “Morning Joe” back in February, had a full meltdown during the promotion of the book.
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Jacobs recalled how Schaller bashed Trump’s advocates as “the most racist, xenophobic, anti-immigrant, anti-gay geo-demographic group in the country.”
Channeling his inner Hillary “basket of deplorables” Clinton, Schaller also ripped them as “the most conspiracist group,” “anti-democratic,” “white nationalist and white Christian nationalists,” as well as the group “most likely to excuse or justify violence as an acceptable alternative to peaceful public discourse” — never mind all those Black Lives Matter rioters from 2020.
Countering that, Jacobs wrote that he was genuinely surprised when he saw Schaller and Waldman’s theory about “white rage” was based in part on his work.
Jacobs noted that the main focus of his research is “to make sense of why rural voters are continually drawn to the Republican Party.”
“The thing about rage,” he wrote, “I’ve never found it.”
“The problem with this ‘rage’ thesis is much larger than the fact that my research, and that of others, is being misinterpreted and misunderstood,” he continued.
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“What the authors are getting wrong about rural America is exactly what many Democrats have been getting wrong for decades — and appear to be doing so again in this critical presidential election year.”
“Ruralness is not reducible to rage. And to say so is to overlook the nuanced ways in which rural Americans engage in politics. They are driven by a sense of place, community and often, a desire for recognition and respect,” Jacobs continued.
Such voters believe in self-reliance, which is “rooted in local community” and they are “concerned that rural ways of living will soon be forced to disappear.”
“In recent years, that rural political identity has morphed into resentment — a collective grievance against experts, bureaucrats, intellectuals and the political party that seeks to empower them, Democrats,” he added.
“Yes, such resentment is a real phenomenon in rural areas. But words matter; rage and resentment are not interchangeable terms. Rage implies irrationality, anger that is unjustified and out of proportion. … Resentment is rational, a reaction based on some sort of negative experience. You may not agree that someone has been treated unfairly, but there is room to empathize.”
“So far, Republicans are the political party that has figured out how to speak to that rural identity effectively.”
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Continuing, Jacobs argued that Schaller and Waldman “have no expertise in rural issues and conducted no original research for the book. They approached the topic as journalists and committed the same errors countless reporters have made when they share with the outside world what they saw from a few days traversing some small town in ‘flyover country.’”
“This shoddy analysis and faux expertise does real damage. It is clear that the overwhelming portrayal of rural America as angry and irrational feeds into and amplifies the divisions between rural and urban Americans, overshadowing the shared challenges and aspirations that cut across these geographic lines,” Jacobs added.
“What rural communities may desire are empowering strategies that allow them to shape their own future — support that bolsters local leadership, encourages community-driven initiatives and provides the tools and resources necessary for them to address their specific challenges in a manner consistent with their values,” he concluded.
“That isn’t rage, nor is it a threat to democracy.”
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Any views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of the Tampa Free Press.