“The real problem is that rural Americans don’t understand the causes of their own situations and fears and they have shown no interest in finding out. They don’t want to know why they feel the way they do or why they are struggling because they don’t want to admit it is in large part because of the choices they’ve made and the horrible things they’ve allowed themselves to believe.”
This is a long read but a good one: An Insider’s View: The Dark Rigidity of Fundamentalist Rural America on Alternet. For me it still reinforces the need for the clear articulation of patriotic progressive values to communicate with these voters. They may be willfully ignorant, but they are human beings who love their friends and families and most of whom do not actually wish suffering on other people.
Image source: http://www.cnn.com/2016/01/27/politics/donald-trump-voters-2016-election/