Vow to revitalize rural America wins Edwards support from Tennessee small farmers

Vow to revitalize rural America wins Edwards support from Tennessee small farmers
By Jared Allen--Nashville City Paper
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
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John Edwards may have more friends in Tennessee than anyone – including any of his rivals for the Democratic presidential nomination – is bargaining for.

It is no secret that, at least right now, the former N.C. Senator and Democratic vice presidential nominee is doing well in the key states that may very well determine the eventual winner of both the Democratic and Republican primaries.

He is also gaining support in Tennessee, if his visit Monday was any indication. The state’s primary date is expected to move up after a vote of the state Legislature, putting the Volunteer State’s voters more in play to help choose both parties’ nominees.
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In discussing his plan to revitalize the rural areas of the country he said have been in a steady economic decline at hands of policies that favor U.S. cities and urban centers, Edwards said it is time to refocus energy on growing rural America, including family farms.
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“So much of the capital in America ends up in the larger cities and urban areas,” he continued. “Speaking for this Democratic presidential candidate, I intend to fight with my heart and soul and everything I’ve got for rural America.”

Noting that last year the top 300 wage earners in the United States earned more than the bottom 150 million combined, Edwards called for a pumping of federal dollars back into rural areas of the country, including investments in broadband technology, infrastructure, heath care, education and small agriculture.

That was music to the ears of Farmer’s Market tenant Joshua Robertson, whose family runs a co-op of 20 family farmers across some 500 acres in Davidson and Smith counties.

“The middle class has been overlooked so long, it’s just heartbreaking,” Robertson said. “That’s why we’re pulling for him. Because anybody that wants to help us, we want to help them.”

Robertson said he is a Democrat, but also said that among his entire family, which he described as spilt evenly between Republicans and Democrats, Edwards has strong support throughout.

“I personally am a Democrat and my family is split down the middle,” Robertson said. “But about 90 percent of my family is voting for Edwards this election. They’ve already stated that.”

While there may be no scientific data to back up the anecdotal showing of support Edwards garnered in Nashville on Monday, a Middle Tennessee State University poll conducted Feb. 6-17 showed that by strong margins Tennesseans support large parts of his platform.
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Read the rest here.

Gore held the urban, suburban vote from the Clinton years but lost ground in the rural areas (which cost him the election--notwithstanding the theft of Florida which of course actually cost him the election) Kerry actually ran better than Gore in several urban/suburban areas, but ran behind Gore in rural areas and thus lost (arguments about Ohio notwithstanding).

Democrats don't have to win rural America, but they do have to reverse the trend of the last two Presidential Cycles