The charge of liberal elitism has undoubtedly been exaggerated and weaponized to exploit natural human insecurities for a cause that serves working people poorly. On an individual level, many upscale progressives hold no enmity toward downscale cultural conservatives and wish to bring them into the left-of-center camp through good-faith outreach. But just because elitism has often been overstated does not mean that too many progressives aren’t eager to sideline culturally conservative voters, particularly those who reside outside urban areas. One need not buy into conservative victimology to accept that elitism is a very real problem in highbrow progressive culture.

I happen to live in one of the wealthiest, best-educated, and most liberal towns in North Carolina (Chapel Hill). When I call attention to the faults in an insular upscale liberalism, I am not posing as a salt-of-the-earth populist speaking for “real Americans.” With that out of the way, let me make my case. Too many elite liberals in North Carolina and across the country have come to see rural and exurban workers as an Other, in much the same way that the narrowest Trumpers regard urban professionals.

It is beyond doubt that red America differs from the blue-state (or county) lifestyle in profound ways. In rural America, faith is still a given, patriotism beyond question, hunting and fishing preferred to Game of Thrones, and the outside world secondary to a deep sense of community and rootedness. In many ways the rural way of life is marginal to the urban-suburban majority of the country, but particularly in North Carolina and other swing states it is still a very real and politically influential culture. To be frank, progressives often view these people with suspicion and find their culture to be archaic and ripe for defeat at the hands of capital-P Progress.

Further, liberal elitism causes some progressives to see rural voters as more of an obstacle than an opportunity. For years, non-urban constituencies have kept North Carolina in the Republican column despite an accelerating blue trend in places like Raleigh and Charlotte. From an urban perspective it is easy to regard this commitment to conservative Republican rule as simple intransigence. Why won’t they recognize their self-interest? some liberals ask. Why won’t they respect our preferences? might be the answer.

After all, rural Trump voters are voting their values every bit as much as urban progressives who opt for Democrats who’d raise their taxes once in office. Some Trump voters are simply deplorable–fiercely defensive of the racial and sexual hierarchies that have long held sway in our country–and cannot and should not be appeased by a Democratic Party that stands for justice. But other rural voters hold fast to timeless values of family and flag, and might be reachable if Democrats would make an effort to understand them and not constantly push the most strident progressive messages.

Surrender? No. Barack Obama made a concerted effort to reach out to cultural conservatives, particularly evangelical voters and traditionalist Catholics. He did remarkably well in rural America, winning Iowa and Ohio twice and becoming the only Democrat in the last 40 years to steer North Carolina into the Democratic column. He was also by far the most accomplished progressive leader America has seen since the 1960s. There need not be a contradiction between rural outreach and progressive values.

If Democrats want to be a majority party in this country, let alone in this state, they will need to escape the dynamics leading to a Fortress Liberalism headquartered in–and with little reach beyond–the affluent liberal areas like the town where I live. Downscale cultural conservatives are not a monolith, nor are they monsters. Just as Republicans should show more sensitivity toward the diverse constituencies they have alienated (though note the large shift of Hispanic voters toward Trump), Democrats need to repudiate the contempt that too often shows through in the liberal disposition toward red America. Red Americans aren’t victims, but they also aren’t simply obstacles to a progressive future. The party of the people must be the party of everyone, no matter where or how they live.