At Political Wire, Taegan Goddard called my attention to this poll by the Center for Rural Strategies.
Although rural voters are more conservative than the average American, this poll found that rural voters prefer a generic Democratic candidate for president by 46 percent to 43 percent. Bush crushed Kerry among rural voters in the 2004 election, winning that demographic by 19 points.
This isn't my main reason for supporting John Edwards for president, but I think Edwards is the candidate best able to connect with the rural and small-town electorate, bringing more of them back to the Democratic Party. I know quite a few people in the sustainable agriculture community, and many told me during the last election cycle that Edwards was by far the favorite candidate in their localities.
Needless to say, I suspect that Hillary Clinton would be the worst candidate we could nominate from this perspective–the 1990s were the decade in which rural voters abandoned the Democratic Party in droves.
The Center for Rural Strategies also found that rural voters prefer a named Democrat for Congress as well by 46 percent to 44 percent.
This finding about Iraq also caught my eye:
While a narrow majority opposes the war, nearly 60 percent are close to someone serving or who has served in the fighting.
That is a massive percentage. In the Des Moines area, I know of quite a few people who have family members in Iraq, but it's nowhere near 60 percent of the people I know.
2 Comments
sustainable ag people swing voters?
I think I know enough sustainable ag folks to say that most of them are left of center D’s. That they are supportive of the most left of center major candidate is not surprising. But to think the most left of center candidate would do best in relatively conservative rural areas in a general election does not seem logical. Maybe this is where the issue of a generic D candidate doing very well against an R candidate vs. real candidate match-ups comes to play. Maybe none of our major candidates are particularly strong among the relatively conservative rural swing voters. Hillary is divisive, a woman, and seems politically calculating. Edwards is the most left of center. Obama and Richardson may have more centrist appeal, but being a minority candidate could still be a negative factor among largely white, homogenous rural voters. I don’t know what potential negative trumps what.
rf Mon 11 Jun 8:58 AM
in 2004
most of the sustainable ag folks I knew were for Edwards. He connects well with people in smaller communities.
desmoinesdem Mon 11 Jun 2:49 PM