My winning 2023 slogan: ”Fixing Roads. Feeding Kids.” 2024: I gave the go-ahead to @lynleethorne.bsky.social for Rural GroundGame to use “Good Neighbors: Feed Kids. Fix Roads. Vote [Democratic ticket].” 2025: @aftynbehn.bsky.social put her own spin on it. Why? It’s about getting the basics right.

Your reminder that they cannot arrest millions of people no matter how hard they try. They lack the infrastructure, they lack the personnel, and the economy would straight-up collapse They are going to try to scare us by making examples out of a few people, and our job is to not fall for it

Awesome advance work and organizational effort for the Valley Dem committees and candidates, and my friends at Rural GroundGame. It’s become a nice annual tradition for rural Dems to out-organize the Rs on Labor Day in an area where Rs should have home field advantage. Compete in all of Virginia!

We feed you. They hunt us.

How could any person, let alone an elected official, think like this? 10 years ago, when I got my start in criminal justice advocacy, I stumbled upon a group of state lawmakers in Virginia. A naïve small-town Iowa kid, I hadn't met people like this before. 1/ www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...

Get in, we're going road-trippin' on State of the States. @joesudbay.bsky.social takes 95 South from Virginia to Florida to catch up with @lynleethorne.bsky.social from Rural Ground Game and FL Sen. Minority Leader Lori Berman. #VALeg #FloridaPolitics

“…the result is trillions of dollars lost, with fewer jobs, products, goods and services for everyone in the country.” barnraisingmedia.com/farmer-cost-...

Some excellent photos from folks on the Eastern Shore who had a great "Hands Off" rally in rural Machipongo yesterday... bluevirginia.us/2025/04/sund... cc: @lynleethorne.bsky.social

“…while rural schools are used to having fewer resources, the loss of REAP funds will strain them even more.” www.whro.org/2025-03-21/h...

Obviously I can't say where this is from, but it's legit from a friend of mine in a position to know (posted with permission). No idea who the eight are, so call your Democratic senator NOW and make sure they're a NO for the continuing resolution.

“Mass terminations at the U.S. Department of Agriculture are “crippling” the agency, upending federal workers’ lives and leaving farmers and rural communities without needed support…” barnraisingmedia.com/usda-doge-tr...

The DOGE firings have nothing to do with “efficiency” or “cutting waste.” They’re a direct push to weaken federal agencies perceived as liberal. This was evident from the start, and now the data confirms it: targeted agencies overwhelmingly those seen as more left-leaning. 🧵⬇️

“…I watch the second Trump administration, in just a few short weeks, dismantle the federal programs that feed, house and employ his rural constituents.” kansasreflector.com/2025/02/18/d...

Devastating flooding in #SWVA and #EKY tonight. Please support these excellent folks on the ground. They are trained in emergency response and ready to get out to help their neighbors as soon as possible. #MutualAid #FloodResponse

For the many rural hospitals that are already on the brink of closure, Trump’s Medicaid cuts could put them over the edge —further exacerbating the healthcare access crisis that rural areas face. www.bu.edu/articles/202...

The pain from gutting USAID will be felt by farmers and businesses right here in Virginia and across the United States. #USAIDrural #FarmersFirst

American farms supply ~41% of the food aid USAID sends around the world each year. In 2020, they bought $2.1 BILLION in food aid from American farmers. “You start dismantling these [food aid] programs and it’s a ripple effect,” he said. “The farmers are affected; the farm economy is affected.”

Just spent a few hours listening to DNC chair candidates say what they'd do for rural America and folks, a gentle reminder... - in the avg rural county, just 8% of jobs are in ag - ag is the most common job in just 7% of rural counties - most ag jobs... are desk jobs Rural != Farmers.

"Surveilled": Ronan Farrow on the Spyware Technology the Trump Admin Could Use to Hack Your Phone

1. The conventional explanation for food deserts—that these places are too poor or too rural to generate enough spending on groceries, or too Black to overcome racist corporate redlining — fail to grapple with a key fact: food deserts didn’t used to exist. My new piece in The Atlantic.

yes www.thenation.com/article/poli...