Tim Ryan is a 2020 Democratic presidential candidate and the US Representative for Ohio's 13th congressional district. The views expressed are his own. View more opinion articles on CNN.

(CNN) Like many Americans, my family and I have spent our entire lives at the epicenter of de-industrialization. We've watched as urban and rural communities have been hollowed out -- good paying jobs have gone overseas, too many people have died from opioid addiction and our neighborhoods have crumbled from failing infrastructure.

Tim Ryan

And all while the rich get richer.

We are fed up. I am fed up. And that is why I am running for president. I'm going to lead a revolution for working people in America. This includes all workers: white, black and brown, men and women, gay and straight, urban and rural. In other words, I want to fight for all the Americans left behind by Trump's elitist economic agenda that puts the well-being of millionaires, billionaires and corporations above that of hardworking Americans.

We need a president who doesn't just visit our forgotten communities for rallies, but one who lives in them -- one who knows the pain and suffering that comes with being unseen and unheard. And this isn't a recent problem -- the hollowing out of our communities has been happening for the last 40 years. It's pathetic that a country this powerful and wealthy can't come together to fix the structural problems -- from job losses to tax cuts for the rich -- that continue to hurt hard-working Americans.

Why do these communities keep getting forgotten? Because the decades-old, right-wing hate agenda has successfully pitted working families against each other. They have spread fear instead of sympathy for the families seeking refuge and asylum in our country. They tell us that women shouldn't be allowed freedom of choice when it comes to reproductive rights. They tell us that gay couples will destroy the institution of marriage and the American family. The stories that are told on the right-wing media's nightly news are not about the promise of America. Instead, their goal is to spread fear.

Read More