Today, mainstream politics has a tendency to ignore the hardworking people that make up the backbone of this country. Politicians give speeches that sound like John Melancamp songs, but where is the investment in rural infrastructure? The government has all the money in the world to bail out wealthy corporations, but where are subsidies for family homesteads, or investment in local industry, agriculture...and where's the damn rural broadband?

Outside the urban centers of America, there are a forward-thinking people who love freedom, independence, hard work, and who genuinely care about other people in their communities. These people respond to a progressive message, but when Washington DC deems that message insufficiently mainstream, those voters disengage.

Those of us working the forests and fields, running the shops and serving the drinks in small-town America, have our own idea of what progress looks like. And we want our seat at the table.