Reply #3: Only after the Democratic Party abandoned them...

[IrateCitizen]

Throughout the 1980's, the Democratic Party did not make a peep when it came to helping out family farmers. So, when these same folks were neglected economically, and alienated on cultural issues, it's no surprise that they turned Republican.

But that's all a recent phenomenon. Midwestern Farmers used to be a hotbed of radicalism. They were the driving force behind the Populist movement of the turn of the 20th century, and many of them also helped propel the Socialist Party to some victories in the early 1900's.

Frankly, I don't blame them for feeling embittered toward Democrats. The Democratic Party abandoned them in their hour of greatest need. Now it will take a full generation to get this group back -- if they're even around anymore by that time, thanks to Cargill, ConAgra, ADM and Monsanto.