Sen. Hillary Clinton has adopted a rural strategy in her campaign — and seven of the remaining eight primary states have higher proportions of rural voters than the U.S. average.
Our colleague Al Cross has suggested that sometime in coming weeks the Democratic presidential candidates spend some quality time talking about rural America. Cross, who heads the Institute for Rural Journalism, notes that Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter has called for a discussion of urban issues. Hey, says the University of Kentucky professor, how about equal time for rural voters.
"Now that the Democratic field has narrowed to two candidates, and most of the primaries after Pennsylvania are in some of the more rural states, we think it's time for another forum on issues that are important to the one in five Americans who live in rural areas," Cross writes in the Rural Blog. "Here are just a few: Access to broadband and other technology for competitive economic development; how to adjust the Farm Bill to better support sustainable rural development; how to change the No Child Left Behind Act to ease its impact on rural schools while maintaining its goal of better and equal education; how to answer questions about emphasis and balance among food, agriculture and energy; and how to address the chronic problems of rural health care, including that for injured Iraq war veterans, who are disproportionately rural."
Former President Bill Clinton called himself the "rural hitman" of his wife's presidential campaign yesterday in Lawrenceburg, Indiana. Clinton was referring to has recent campaign assignment of gathering votes in rural communities. Sen. Hillary Clinton won the Texas and Ohio primaries by pulling votes from small towns where the former president campaigned.
The Indiana primary is set for May 6. According to the Indianapolis Star, Clinton said he has enjoyed taking his wife's campaign to small towns like Lawrenceburg, in far southeastern Indiana.
Sen. Hillary Clinton plans to go rural in Pennsylvania, according to the Wall Street Journal. Reporter Amy Chozick writes, "Given the size and diversity of Pennsylvania, the campaign could mostly rely on targeted ads in cheaper, local markets, particularly in smaller rural areas where Sen. Clinton is popular, aides say."
Part of this emphasis is coming from the former President, who has seen that his wife does better in rural areas than in the cities. In his first tour of the state, Clinton said he's going to stick to the rural areas of the state, because, "I want to go out see how America really lives." "I think you represent the tipping point, the balance of America's political influence," he told a crowd of nearly 2,000 in Washington, Pennsylvania.
John Fortier, in The Politico , makes the argument that Clinton's appeal in rural areas may be more important than Sen. Barack Obama's attraction of independents, especially in states like Ohio. "The rural and blue-collar voters of Ohio are likely to be more important swing voters than those Obama courts," Fortier writes.
Sen. Barack Obama won Mississippi in a walk Tuesday. As in previous contests, however, the Illinois senator did better in the cities than in rural communities.
One Texas road tells the story of the Democratic primary. As you drive away from the city, the vote for Barack Obama goes down and the vote for Hillary Clinton goes up.