A second and more difficult task is to break the rural media monopoly. Fox News and Sinclair Broadcasting’s network of local stations are overwhelmingly dominant in rural America, and they actively support Republican and conservative candidates and causes. The mainstream national media, meanwhile, speaks overwhelmingly to urban and suburban America. And genuinely local news is on a starvation diet. An alternative to the GOP-oriented media, one that is locally rooted in rural America, would seem to be have a viable market niche for someone with deep enough pockets to build and grow it.

Of course, being authentically rooted in rural America would mean a certain degree of antipathy to the habits, mores and priorities of the Democrats’ core urban constituency, and probably therefore a somewhat distinct brand. In our call-out culture, that might be tough for the activist base of the national party to swallow. Add that to the need for what amounts to affirmative action for rural whites in leadership, and you might reach the breaking point.

Which raises the third and most risky thing that liberals might need to consider: the possibility of splitting the party.