With the general election only a year away, farmers and rural residents are being courted for their votes now as much as ever. And as always, that courtship begins in Iowa.
Republican Mitt Romney (above, speaking on ethanol in Iowa) has a double-digit stranglehold in Iowa polls, while three Democrats—Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and John Edwards—share the top spot on the other side. But going forward, the Republican ticket may face more of a challenge in rural areas that for the past 12 years have been starkly painted red.
A recent study by the Center for Rural Strategies (CRS) shows rural voters would favor a Democratic candidate for president, 46 to 43%. That's quite a swing from 2004, when President Bush won the rural vote by 19 percentage points.
Why the wide swing? "The war is a major issue on the minds of rural residents, like the nation as a whole," says Tim Marema, CRS vice president. "Three-quarters of the people we surveyed said they knew someone personally who had served or is serving in Iraq or Afghanistan. More than one-quarter of the respondents had a family member serving in the wars." In fact, a sliver-thin majority in rural America now opposes the war, according to the survey. "Our impression is that the impact of the war is more likely to be felt personally among a greater percentage of rural people," says Marema.
The impact of farmers on the CRS survey is evident in the responses to questions about ethanol and alternative energy: 77% say it's an issue they think should be near the top or higher on the candidates' agendas. "By comparison, folks ranked alternative energy as a higher priority than reducing illegal immigration and investing more in homeland security," says Marema.
CLICK HERE to view complete results of the CRS study.
CLICK HERE to view a detailed analysis of the CRS study.