John Edwards will help us with rural voters

[AmBlue]

John Edwards will help us with rural voters
by: desmoinesdem
Wed Oct 17, 2007 at 00:31:50 AM CDT

Note: this post originally appeared at MyDD, where I write a front-page post in support of John Edwards every Tuesday. Parts of it are aimed at readers who are less familar with Iowa politics than the typical Bleeding Heartland reader.

Although the ten SEIU state chapter endorsements of John Edwards have understandably dominated the recent blogosphere chatter about Edwards, I want to call attention to a different aspect of his campaign. Edwards is on a two-day swing through western and central Iowa, where he is highlighting his policy agenda for small towns and rural areas. When Edwards wins the Iowa caucuses, I believe small-town and rural voters will play as important a role as union members.

Yesterday the Edwards campaign in Iowa announced the formation of a Statewide Rural Advisory Committee. From the campaign website:


The committee consists of a wide group of leaders including first responders, business leaders, elected officials and agricultural leaders. The committee will work with the campaign's 99 Rural County Chairs to advise Edwards on the issues facing rural Iowans and spread his detailed plans to strengthen rural towns and communities across America. Edwards was raised in a small rural town and has made rural revitalization a cornerstone of his campaign. In August, the campaign announced more than 1,000 rural supporters showing Edwards' broad support throughout rural Iowa.


The biggest name on this committee is Denise O'Brien, who endorsed Edwards over the summer and will help him tremendously with progressives as well as rural voters. Denise, an organic farmer and the founder of the Women, Food and Agriculture Network, was the Democratic nominee for secretary of agriculture last year. She shocked Iowa politicos by winning the Democratic primary by a large margin, despite the fact that her opponent, Dusky Terry (a great guy by the way), had the strong backing of Tom Vilsack and virtually the whole Democratic establishment in Iowa.

Denise narrowly lost the general election for secretary of agriculture, but she has many passionate supporters in the Iowa environmentalist community. Environmentalists were a significant factor in John Kerry's caucus victory in Iowa.

But I digress. This post is about rural voters. Most of the people on the Edwards Statewide Rural Advisory Committee may be little-known outside their home counties, but when it comes to turning out caucus-goers, a respected figure from someone's home town is probably even more valuable than a statewide celebrity.

In addition to having a strong team working to turn out rural and small-town voters, Edwards has put forward a solid policy agenda for rural America. You can download his plans on the issues page of his campaign website. Edwards has a deep knowledge of the the issues affecting small-town America, and his current swing through Iowa is focusing on a different aspect of his rural recovery plan at each venue.

His first event yesterday was in Dunlap, Iowa, where he focused on agricultural issues including country-of-origin labeling. He discussed protecting family farms at his next event in Harlan. Later in the day, he held a town hall meeting at a high school in the small town of Exira, where he focused on his plan to strengthen rural schools. (As you probably know, Edwards was educated in rural public schools.)

Edwards' final two events on Tuesday were in Greenfield and Waukee (suburb of Des Moines), where he talked about economic development plans for rural areas, with a focus on main street development and incentives for small business creation. That issue is particularly close to my heart, as both of my grandfathers ran small businesses and I despise so-called economic development plans that are basically just corporate welfare.

Why should you care whether Edwards appeals to rural voters? I mean, besides the fact that his policy ideas are really good?

Well, if you are an Edwards supporter you will be pleased to know that caucus-goers in rural counties punch above their weight when the state delegates are tallied.

But even if Edwards is not your favorite candidate in the primary, you should be aware that a strong showing among rural voters will put many more states into play for our Democratic nominee. ManfromMiddletown made a strong case for this analysis in his diary on electability.

<snip>

http://www.bleedingheartland.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=592

[onehandle]

1. Edwards would turn more purple counties blue.

His coattails would greatly expand our hold on Congress.

No matter who we nominate, we will recapture the White House. I want more.

Want a more Progressive Congress? Look for the coattails.

[midnight]

2. I saw him in Milwaukee several weeks ago.... He spoke about

important issues like treating the mentally ill like anyone else seeking healthcare, and healthcare for all. He seems to have a handle on the supports in this country that have been thrown overboard by the big business crowd.

[Ninga]

3. Edwards has been able resonate with a broad demographic because he speaks directly

to their needs.

He is not "tone deaf".

He does not give the same speech over and over, he has the ability to focus on the the group in front of him, and again, speak to their needs.


He has lived, he has lost, he has had his turn on the wheel of life and experienced life altering loss of his son. He has picked himself up, and stood by Elizabeth as once again, the wheel of life has given him a ride.

This is character building at the extreme.

This is who I want sitting in the WH. Because being smart, is not enough, and being a certain gender or race is not enough.

I sense in John Edwards that he really wants to be a president of all the people. He has made that clear.

As I have written time and time again on DU......winning for the Dem's in '08 is not enough......what the victor does with the win is what matters.

I trust that John Edwards has our back, in a way, that the others have not demonstrated.

[Ninga]

4. And another thing, his life is an open book. So there.

[Ninga]

And another thing, no one will write a book about his tirades. So there.

[Ninga]

5. And another thing, no one will write a book about his tirades. So there.

[Ninga]

6. And another thing, no one will write a book about his tirades. So there.