A rallying cry to reinvest in rural political organizing to win back and build long-term power in rural places that have been pushing politics towards the right. Dirt Road Revival recounts lessons learned during the successful journey of a young political team, first-time candidate Chloe Maxmin and campaign manager Canyon Woodward, as they sought to empower overlooked communities and produce political success. Born on the backroads of rural Maine and Appalachia, Maxmin and Woodward built a movement in Maine House District 88 that led to Maxmin being the first Democrat elected in a district that had voted Republican by a staggering 16% margin over the past three elections. Her win was all the more remarkable because it took place in the most rural county in the country.
Maxmin and Woodward suggest that the Democratic Party has focused for too long on the interests of elite leaders and big donors, forcing the party to abandon the concerns of rural America and instead perpetuating a toxic campaign culture. The authors argue that to focus on rural politics is to connect with tight knit communities and to have conversations that confront years of mistrust. By doing so, Democrats can rebuild trust in rural communities and revive progressive movements on state and local levels in communities that have long felt neglected.
Dirt Road Revival lays out a new long-term vision for the Democratic Party to build political power in rural America by translating progressive values to a rural context, utilizing movement organizing strategies to effectively engage moderate rural voters, and pioneering innovative methods of engaging constituents while in office.
