莱恩·法蒂卡是佐治亚州深红色的斯泰茨伯勒几乎已经灭绝的政治物种中的一员——农村民主党人。
采访了佐治亚州东南部最大的城市布洛克县大约34，000人口。它拥有四条不同的主要街道(罗盘上的每一个点都有一条)和一个长期存在的小问题。
“大多数情况下，人们都非常友好，”佐治亚州民主党农村委员会主席法蒂卡告诉。“即使他们不同意你的观点，他们也会坐下来和你交谈。”
许多人不同意法蒂卡的观点，她正在竞选县委员会，并领导一项吸引农村选民加入州民主党的倡议。他们每周都在当地的一家咖啡馆会面，讨论策略，他承认民主党人在农村地区取得进展有多么困难。
“如果你看看下面的布洛克县，我们可能接近70%是共和党人，”他说。"这是一个共和党势力很强的地区。"
法蒂卡接受了持续的批评，即民主党人很久以前就抛弃了农村选民，而支持城市人口，但他认为当地人可能会逐渐退缩——乔·拜登提出这种可能性时险胜摇摆州在2020年的总统选举中。
“曾经，这是一个民主的县，”他说。“与共和党人交谈时，他们觉得在10年内，随着制造业工作的转移，这里可能会再次成为一个民主党的县。”
法蒂卡强调了民主党人接受特朗普言论的重要性，即使是在与深红色选民交谈时。
“我们必须回击，我们必须回击那些被告知的谎言，”他说。
据法蒂卡说，副总统卡玛拉·哈里斯对竞选伙伴的选择也可能会改变局势。明尼苏达州州长蒂姆·沃尔兹正式宣布接受提名在周三的民主党全国代表大会上突出了他的农村背景在演讲和集会中。
“从小到大，我整个夏天都在家庭农场工作，”沃尔兹在8月6日说。"我的父母教导我们——对你的邻居表现出慷慨，并为共同利益而努力."
终身民主党人罗宾·哈奇森和她的女儿阿丽娅·约翰逊强调了他们是多么不寻常，他们住在共和党众议员马乔里·泰勒·格林的西北佐治亚州国会选区。
哈奇森说:“你看到很多卡车挂着特朗普的旗帜，院子里有很多特朗普的旗帜，我们就像一大片红海中的小蓝点。”。
他们一致认为沃尔兹对美国农村人有吸引力。
“我觉得蒂姆真的是一个道德高尚的人，一个善良正直的人，”约翰逊说。“这代表了老一代的体面，我认为老选民已经习惯了，新选民仍然希望依靠他们，并相信这是正确的事情，是一件好事。”
这对母女一致认为，自从奥巴马入主白宫以来，民主党人还没有这么兴奋过。
“这是我们第一次真正感觉到改变是可能的，”约翰逊说。
政治战略家弗雷德·希克斯指出，他认为佐治亚州变得更有竞争力，因为许多定义了美国几代人的文化战争已经平息-有多个问题而不是一个单一的问题驱使人们投票。
希克斯在谈到农村地区时说:“我认为，经济问题是推动人们前进的真正原因，因为在这些城市节点之外没有经济增长。”。
彼得·富勒是东北部杰克逊县民主党的主席，他知道翻转佐治亚州的任何一个农村地区都是一项艰巨的任务。特朗普在2020年赢得了杰克逊县78%的选票。
“这些县已经这样有一段时间了。他们是长期项目，”他说。“这些社区大多以农业为基础。我们面临着人口不增长或者在某些情况下人口减少的问题。医疗保健是一个大问题。”
富勒指出，将一些国家政策转化为杰克逊县选民可以理解的东西可能具有挑战性。
“和蒂姆·沃尔兹这样的人合作要容易得多，”他说。
围绕哈里斯-瓦尔兹竞选的希望和兴奋能否转化为民主党在美国农村的选票和胜利，还有待观察。
Tim Walz gives rural Democrats hope for winning swing states
Len Fatica is a member of a political species that's practically extinct in deep red Statesboro, Georgia -- a rural Democrat.
ABC News traveled to the biggest city in Georgia's southeastern Bulloch County, witha population of around 34,000. It boasts four different Main Streets (one for each point of the compass) and a persistent gnat problem.
"People are, for the most part, very friendly," Fatica, the Georgia Democratic Party's rural council chair, told ABC News. "They will sit down and have a conversation with you even if they disagree with you."
Plenty of people disagree with Fatica, who's running for county commission and leading an initiative to attract rural voters to the state Democratic Party. They meet each week at a local coffee shop to talk strategy, and he acknowledged how difficult it is for Democrats to make inroads in rural areas.
"If you look at Bulloch County down here, we're probably close to 70% that is Republican," he said. "This is a deep Republican area."
Fatica accepted the persistent criticism that Democrats left rural voters behind long ago in favor of urban populations, but he believes locals might be gradually drawn back -- a possibility suggested when Joe Bidennarrowly won the swing statein the 2020 presidential election.
"At one time, it was a Democratic county," he said. "Talking to Republicans, they feel within 10 years, with the manufacturing jobs that are being moved in, this could become a Democratic county again."
Fatica highlighted the importance of Democrats taking on Trump's rhetoric, even when talking to deep red voters.
"We've got to punch back, and we've got to punch back on the falsehoods that are told," he said.
Vice President Kamala Harris' choice of running mate might also move the needle, according to Fatica. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, who formallyaccepted the nominationat the Democratic National Convention on Wednesday, regularlyhighlights his rural rootsin speeches and rallies.
"Growing up I spent the summers working on the family farm," Walz said on Aug. 6. "My mom and dad taught us -- show generosity toward your neighbors and work for the common good."
Lifelong Democrats Robin Hutcheson and her daughter Aliya Johnson highlighted how unusual they are, living in Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene's northwest Georgia congressional district.
"You see a lot of trucks with Trump flags and a lot of Trump flags in the yard, and we are like little blue dots in a big red sea," Hutcheson said.
They agreed that Walz could appeal to rural Americans.
"I feel like Tim is genuinely a person who has high morals, who is a good, upstanding person," Johnson said. "That kind of represents the older style of respectability that I think older voters got used to and that newer voters still want to lean on and believe is the right thing, and a good thing."
The mother and daughter agreed that Democrats haven't been this excited since Obama's bids for the White House.
"This is the first time that we really feel like change is possible," Johnson said.
Political strategist Fred Hicks noted his belief that Georgia has become competitive because many of the culture wars that defined America for generations have subsided -- there are multiple issues rather than a single issue driving people to vote.
"The economic issue is really what's, I think, pushing people because you have not had the economic growth outside of these urban nodes," Hicks said of the rural areas.
Peter Fuller is the chair of the northeastern Jackson County's Democratic Party and knows flipping any rural part of Georgia is a tall order. Trump won 78% of the Jackson County vote in 2020.
"These are counties that have been like this for a while. They are long-term projects," he said. "Most of these communities are agriculture based. We have issues of either not having population growth, or loss in some cases. Health care is a big one."
Fuller noted that translating some national policies into something relatable for Jackson County voters can be challenging.
"It's a lot easier to do with somebody like Tim Walz," he said.
What remains to be seen is whether the hope and excitement around the Harris-Walz ticket can translate into votes and victory for the Democratic Party in rural America.
