I grew up on our family’s SWVA dairy farm, surrounded by older men who’d starved through the Hoover Days of The Great Depression and whipped the Nazis. The Greatest Generation, they called ’em. I just called ’em Papaw and his buddies.
They didn’t talk much. But when they did, it landed.
There’s one story Papaw told that hit me hard, damn near had me crying as a kid. It was about one of his fellow WWII B-17 Bomber crews, limping back over the English Channel. Their plane was shot to hell. Three engines gone. Fire in the fuselage. The squadron leader seeing the situation got on the radio: “Bail out, boys. Save yourselves.”
The pilot of the doomed plane came back calm as Sunday morning: “Can’t do it, Captain. Hydraulics are toast. Tommy-Boy’s trapped in the belly turret. We ain’t leaving him. He’s not dying alone. Tell our families why.”
Then silence.
That’s brotherhood that only a few people on earth know.
Rural America culture teaches brotherhood. Not always life or death like Papaw’s WWII B-17 bomber story, but it makes an impression just the same.
Back in high school, our football coach used to hammer it into us, character, being a teammate, win together, lose together. He also ran the wrestling team. Those all-day “super” matches? Didn’t matter if you wrestled at 8 a.m.—you stayed ‘til the last whistle. No sneaking off with your folks. You were there for your team. Even if late in the evening the last teammate on the mat was a green freshman going up against the state champ from over the mountain, you stood there and cheered like he had a shot.
Same deal with the basketball coach. Every boy on the team was required to show up and cheer for the girls' home games. No excuses. That was the expectation, you back your people.
And it didn’t stop after high school.
Down in the coal mines, whether it was a union mine or not, if there was an explosion, nobody got left behind. Even if all you could do was bring the body home, you did it, because that man had a family, and a name, and he mattered.
That’s brotherhood. Not the kind you talk about. The kind you show up for.
Unless you’re a Rural Democrat running for office, that is.
Doesn’t matter if it’s rural Virginia, Indiana, or Texas—the story’s the same and has been for over a decade. Your home district’s voting 70% MAGA or more, and the party brass—state and national—shrug it off. “Not winnable. Not worth the effort. Our funds and support can be used more efficiently elsewhere in the state.”
But you’re a lifelong Democrat living in rural America. You believe in rights worth protecting. You step up, decide to run in a district where nobody thinks you’ve got a prayer. You’re not looking for a parade, just a little help. Maybe some support. A few bucks to cover the filing fee or get access to the voter file. Why not, the state party is sitting on millions.
What do you get? Crickets. Maybe an email from a mid-level staffer saying, “Thanks for running, you’re helping the ticket.” That’s it.
Where’s the brotherhood in the Democratic Party?
I can’t tell you how damn hard it is to ask a rural MAGA voter to take a chance on a Democrat, when they see the Party abandon and not support its own people.
This ain’t just about winning. It’s about showing up. It’s about competing. It’s about not leaving a fellow Democrat behind on the campaign trail.
This is exactly why a few of us rural Democrats started urTOPIX LLC and partnered with Rural America Rising PAC, because we’re done watching rural Democrats step up to run and get left behind.
At urTOPIX, we’ve walked the walk. Our team has won a combined 10 elections in deep-red MAGA territory, including a Democratic victory last November in a district that went 83% for Trump. We train candidates and campaign staff to run smart, rural-savvy campaigns, how to sell yourself without selling out, how to take core Democratic values and deliver them in language that resonates. From messaging to speechwriting, we help you connect with the folks who matter most, your neighbors, your community, your voters.
We also offer our trademarked cultural campaign, Work Boots Built America™, to help candidates reconnect with the working-class roots of the Democratic Party and chip away at MAGA’s hold on the culture. And coming soon, our Rural Route Video Podcast will amplify rural candidates’ voices and stories where it counts, back home.
But urTOPIX is only one piece of the puzzle. Rural America Rising PAC is the engine behind the movement. It was created for one reason: to make a Democratic comeback possible in the places the Party gave up on.
For too long, Democratic leaders have chased easy wins in the cities and suburbs, while rural America turned red, uncontested and unchallenged. MAGA took over school boards, town councils, state houses. Now, Rural America Rising is bringing the cavalry.
Our mission is simple: support rural Democrats with little to no campaign funds, and provide the tools, training, and resources they need to compete—from the Rust Belt to Appalachia. Because rural communities deserve leaders who serve them, not themselves.
If you’re ready to run, or already running and need campaign support, we’re here. Even if you’re not a candidate and you’re just tired of watching your hometown get swallowed by MAGA politics, you can help. A donation to a national campaign might disappear into the noise. But a contribution to Rural America Rising PAC makes an immediate impact where it’s needed most, on the ground, in the fight.
We don’t throw money at problems. We train candidates and staff up. We speak rural. We support where others won’t. Because in our America, you don’t leave your people behind—not in a coal mine, not on a farm, and not on the campaign trail.
Till next time, that’s the story from the Back Forty.
–John W Peace II
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John W. Peace II is a fifth-generation farmer from Big Stone Gap, Virginia, where he grew up on his family’s dairy, Clinch Haven Farms, and still lives today farming hay and beef cattle. He’s a proud father to Trey and Shelby Peace, and partner in life to Cathy Swinney. A Virginia Tech graduate with graduate studies at Penn State, he served as the youngest Chair of the Wise County Board of Supervisors (2004–2008). John co-owns SafeHavenServices.co and urTOPIX LLC (urTopixLLC.com), a Democratic campaign consulting firm focused on reaching rural voters. He’s also a two-time Amazon bestselling author. Learn more at www.JohnWPeace.com.