Re: McCain leads in rural America (but not by enough)

elrod — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 23:37:07 -0000

Very interesting stuff. Wouldn't you suspect, though, that Palin has already won over whoever she will win over for McCain? What can she do now to convince those in rural America that they should vote for M-P if they aren't already doing that? The only answer seems to be sending Palin herself out to rural communities the way Hillary sent Bill Clinton out to rural NC, IN, KY, OH and WV in the primary. But then McCain would lose his own drawing power.

Also, as someone who lives in small town/rural Appalachia I can tell you that anger over the economy is intense. Where I happen to live Obama will lose big, mostly because folks here in East TN have been voting Republican since Parson Brownlow in 1864. But in southeast Ohio or southside Virginia or Piedmont NC, it might be a different story. If voters get beyond the race issue, they may very well go to Obama in numbers enough to give Obama those states.

Bush ran the table in rural America in 2004 because he talked up values issues, he pushed terrorism/national security over everything else, and Kerry had absolutely no appeal in rural America (even less than Obama). The primary issues in rural America in 2004 were values (gay marriage in particular) and national security - of course Bush would clean house. Bush also had a top-notch GOTV operation through churches that worked wonders.

If the economy stays where it is, Obama will do much better than Kerry in November. It's as if these voters want an excuse to get beyond race and vote for the Democrat.

See also this report from eastern Kentucky today, where Hillary Clinton personally convinced several Pike Countians to vote for Obama.

http://www.news-tribune.net...
This kind of thing will push rural voters to Obama - especially conservative Democrats.

The Moderate Voice - Latest Comments in McCain leads in rural America (but not by enough)

Re: McCain leads in rural America (but not by enough)