The Rural Vote - How well is Kerry perceived on the farm?

[SlavesandBulldozers]

Chimp owns the rural vote? How is rural defined? Where my rural peepz iz at?

[NMDemDist2]

1. while Zogby shows Bush at 52%, at the same time in 2000 he had 59%

of the "rural" voters over Gore

[SlavesandBulldozers]

3. the numbers went by pretty fast

but i think it showed Kerry 15 points behind Chimp in "rural" areas? Southern IllAnoize rocks, by the way.

[cornfedyank]

4. farmers understand debt

i said to one to other day, "tax cut my foot. Deficit spending is a tax increase on Posterity." All he said was "you're right".

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

2. Rural areas are as diverse as urban areas

Newton County AR could go Kerry this year-there are a lot of folks really upset with what Bush has done. I know there are rural areas in Southern Illinois that are Dem and have been for some time.

[dogtag]

5. You'd think a farmer would

recognize bullshit when he sees it. Chimp is a walking cow pie.

[HEIL PRESIDENT GOD]

6. If rural California matters....

We're pretty pro-Kerry, I think. We have a lot of small and specialty farms where I live, and you see nothing but Kerry signs.

The much-bruited-about inland support for Bush in CA is a function of growing inland metropoles, Modesto, for instance, growing from a sleepy small town into a major city between the last two censuses. These are the new "white flight" areas so of course they vote Republican. The fields that surround these cities are owned by corporations and worked by illegals, so there are no "farmers".

[Xithras]

7. You obviously know little about the Modesto area

I live here.

First, the vast majority of farms in this area are still held by family farmers, and "corporate farms" are pretty rare...you don't start running into them in any serious way until you get south of Fresno. That fact is obscured by the legalities of modern farm ownership though. My boss, as an example, lives on a 350 acre almond orchard that's been in his family since the 1930's...a great example of what most would consider to be a family farm. On paper, however, it would appear to be owned by a corporation. The ownership of the farm has been spread around so much by inheritance over time that 17 people can actually now claim a stake in it's ownership. They are all still family...brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, cousins...but they are all "owners". To keep everything straight legally for tax and legal protection purposes, they formed a corporation and all legally own a stake of it. Still, by all reasonable standards, it's a family farm.

And they are ALL Democrats.

Many family farmers in this area are Democrats (and have been since the Roosevelt New Deal era), and even though we technically have a Republican majority, no Republican has won a major seat here since the 1940's. And the Republican majority here is SHRINKING, not growing. As the real extate values in the SF Bay Area continue to spiral upwards, many of the Bay Area's poor are being squeezed out of the market and are ending up in areas like Modesto, Stockton, and the smaller towns in between. These people tend to be overwhelmingly Democrat, and they are gradually pulling the whole region to the left.

So put away the broad brush.

[NMDemDist2]

8. my husband's family farms and they are a corporation too, just like

you said. the brothers and sisters all "own" part of the land, but the oldest boy of two brothers acutally "farm"

the sisters and grand kids work harvest if they need extra $$ but that's about it.

The corp is owned by 14 people, 3 of which actually "work" the land

[SpiralHawk]

13. Another emerging form of farm ownership: The Trust

This form has really come into its own with the advent and development of CSAs -- Community Supported Farms. I reckon we may see more farm trusts in the years ahead. If so, I feel that would be a good thing for the land, the farmers, and communities where the farms are located.

http://www.chiron-communications.com/farms-1.html

[SlavesandBulldozers]

9. the broad brush

Tweety's going crazy with the rural broad brush.

[HEIL PRESIDENT GOD]

11. Big pixel, not broad brush

For our friends out east.

I know my 18-year-old students coming from Modesto tend to be pro-life gun-lovers, but maybe their parents aren't. I really don't know.

To be fair the really bad corpo agribiz is mostly in the southern part of the SJ valley.

[newyawker99]

23. Hi sh0rtbus!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[HEIL PRESIDENT GOD]

24. Thanks, newyawker

Happy to be here.

Kind of wish we didn't delete the trolls, but other than that, this is a great site.

[Name removed]

10. Deleted message

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[HEIL PRESIDENT GOD]

12. You're an obviously likeable fellow

Why don't you run for office?

[Name removed]

14. Deleted message

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[shrub chipper]

15. Question

None of us are as obvious as these freetards when we go over there , are we?

Wouldn't the whole point be to subtly blend in?

Am I missing something?

[Name removed]

16. Deleted message

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[in_cog_ni_to]

17. Ah yes, Freeperville is missing another idiot.

See ya round freeper! Buh Bye!

[are_we_united_yet]

19. Hey

whoever you were

Cheney off

[hansolsen]

18. Chimp dosen't own Northeastern Minnesota which is as rural as it gets

but with no farms. This is a tourist area with lakes and vacation cabins and lots of retirees. It is also the home of the Iron Range with 100,000 steelworkers, and their families and spin off businesses. Minnesota steel workers are still union members.

This area votes heavily Democratic, with about 5% going to Nader in 2000. We do lose plenty of votes to the God, guns and gay issues, but by no means a majority.

The things that hurt us worst are:

1. The candy ass forms of environmental legislation. Thses are all "outdoor" people who belive in protecting the environment but want multiple use. We love our ATVs and Snowmobiles.

2. Too many people are buying the idea that Bush is God's candidate.

3. Gun control loses us net votes in this area, IMO.

[oldlady]

20. here in Wisconsin

Bush did travel to the small towns, county seats, including my hometown which is barely the size of the high school in my city! Kerry didn't swing through, he's hit the cities-- in case that might influence things. Everyone I know turned out to see Bush-- heck, they'd have turned out to see ANYONE-- no protestors either (we didn't know he was going *sigh*)

[coda]

21. Some areas there is near zero support.

At one county fair in KS they did a straw poll.

126 Bush

5 Kerry

Pretty much lock, stock and barrel, for *.

[NEDem]

22. I talk to farmers in Nebraska

once in a while, most of them are firmly in *'s corner, however they do like the populist message Kerry/Edwards brings to the table.