Campaign's Rural Route

The Wall Street Journal

Campaign's Rural Route
Democrats See Strength in Farm Vote
By AMY CHOZICK
January 3, 2008; Page A10

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A long line of urban Democratic presidential hopefuls have come to Iowa during the years, straining to find common ground with farmers in the rural state that holds the nation's first nominating contest. While the farm belt has generally favored Republicans, there are signs this year that rural states may be most receptive to the Democrat who wins the nomination. A recent poll by the nonpartisan Center for Rural Strategies in Whitesburg, Ky., concluded that rural voters say they would prefer a Democratic candidate over a Republican by a 4% margin. In Iowa, the Democratic edge is about 15%. In 2004, President Bush carried the rural vote by 19%, the study said.

One reason for the shift: Democrats have been more supportive than Republicans of a new farm bill, which was up for renewal last year and sets food and farm policies for the next five years, including controls on big agribusiness companies and subsidies for farmers. The Iraq war also appears to be swaying some rural Iowans to cross party lines. The Center for Rural Strategies study shows that nearly 60% of all rural U.S. citizens are close to, or related to, someone serving in Iraq. That is more than twice the share of suburban residents. For rural communities, "this is not a 'television war,' " said Chris Peterson, president of the Iowa Farmers Union, the largest group representing the state's farmers. "When our breadwinners go off to war, it has a devastating affect." The union has said it won't endorse a candidate until the general election.

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In the three-way Democratic battle for Iowa, the advantage for farm votes seems to be going to John Edwards, the former North Carolina senator. He draws huge support in agricultural areas where fans relate to his background and anticorporate message. "I grew up in small towns in rural communities across the South. And everyone knows those are the places Democrats have to do well in order to be successful," Mr. Edwards told a crowd of more than 500 people, many of them farmers, in Knoxville, Iowa.

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Mr. Edwards's opponents aren't ceding the rural turf. Clinton campaign organizers have invited a dozen farmers from upstate New York to travel through rural Iowa to talk about how Mrs. Clinton, as their junior senator, has improved their lives. "There were a lot of skeptics in upstate New York , particularly in the agricultural community," Mark Nicholson, a third-generation fruit farmer from Geneva, N.Y., told an audience in Lawton last Thursday. "But Hillary has worked tirelessly for the past seven years for us, doing her homework and studying the situation of the people upstate." The third leading Democratic candidate, Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, has introduced a package of farm- and rural-development policies, including plans to rejuvenate rural communities by cultivating alternative energies such as wind farms and ethanol. "There are some competitive advantages in our rural economy, not only for wind but for biodiesel and ethanol," Mr. Obama told an audience in Storm Lake.

Sometimes politicians' efforts to win the rural vote fall flat. In 1988, Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis drew cringes by suggesting farmers diversify their approach to agriculture by cultivating Belgian endive. In the 2008 race, Mr. Obama raised eyebrows in Adel when he asked a crowd of poor farmers: "Anybody gone into a Whole Foods lately and see what they charge for arugula?" The upscale organic-supermarket chain doesn't have a single store in Iowa.

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