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  • From: Gene GeRue <genegerue AT ruralize.com>
  • To: homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [Homestead] Rural voters
  • Date: Thu, 09 Dec 2004 08:33:40 -0700


On the homefront, Democrats are talking about how to reconnect with rural voters. It's an important conversation, as much about the decline in the party's fortunes can be traced to the fact that people who live in small towns provided President Bush with overwhelming support in 2004.

I expected just that. I have long found it an fascinating phenomenon that ruralites, who tend to be lower on the economic scale, many below the national poverty level, are conservative in their values and their votes. In hill country, this dates to moonshiner run-ins with revenooers and no doubt earlier. When you are scraping a living in a hard way, you don't appreciate being taxed on your efforts. Democrats must do more than pander to rural social needs if they wish to overcome this condition.

What will change some small town attitudes more than what either party does is changing demographics. As urbanites move to rural venues, they carry their dependency attitudes with them. This often creates conflict in their new areas.

I consider Bush to be an anomaly. He is not a typical conservative Republican. Cut taxes, yes, that is conservative and appealing to rural voters. But increase national debt, enlarge social programs and the size of the government, no, those things are antithetical to rural values.





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