Not for the faint of heart
Democrat Brad Carson, who lost the Senate race in Oklahoma, but made it far closer than the Presidential race was there, has written a piece for The New Republic that should be must reading for all liberals. But it's tough to stomach. I wonder why no other country seems to face this particular predicament. I suspect it's more pronounced in Oklahoma than most anywhere, but is staggering nonetheless. We know about this, of course, but to hear it laid out like this--by someone who did everything he could to combat it, and had an absolute nutcase as an opponent, is pretty scary.

Free subscription is required to read it at TNR, but MyDD posted the whole thing, which they shouldn't do, but you can read it there. Here's a little bit:

For the vast majority of Oklahomans--and, I would suspect, voters in other red states--these transcendent cultural concerns are more important than universal health care or raising the minimum wage or preserving farm subsidies. Pace Thomas Frank, the voters aren't deluded or uneducated. They simply reject the notion that material concerns are more real than spiritual or cultural ones. The political left has always had a hard time understanding this, preferring to believe that the masses are enthralled by a "false consciousness" or Fox News or whatever today's excuse might be. But the truth is quite simple: Most voters in a state like Oklahoma--and I venture to say most other Southern and Midwestern states--reject the general direction of American culture and celebrate the political party that promises to reform or revise it.

The story he tells at the beginning is chilling.