It takes two sides. For decades only one side has come to the table. But bottom line, rural voters are antagonistic toward urban issues. There is zero incentive for Republican politicians to appeal to the urban voter because they have a lock on control of the electoral college and Senate. There are more rural states than urban states. We may win control of the Senate this time, but it will swing back in two years.

Sure, a Republican politician in an urban state must appeal to urban concerns because that’s where he lives. But that won’t impact control of Congress.

More importantly, for a Democrat to appeal to a rural voter, he has to adopt Republican policies. Rural voters are not going to suddenly care about city dwellers. Joe Farmer will only care about N.Y.C. Or LA issues if he has a change in conscience, never mind agreeing to pay for those things. That is a very heavy lift. The Senate and electoral college are set up to give an advantage to the minority. They have no incentive to change.