11/03/08 How Will the Rural Vote Go?

How Will The Rural Vote Go? I'm Greg Martin with today's Line On Agriculture. Well tomorrow is Election Day. It seems that this election has been going on for the past 4 years and in some ways, it has. This will be an election year to remember whether it winds up as the first Black American president or the first woman vice-president. Pollsters have been all over this but one area has yet to speak as rural residents have a reputation for getting out to vote. With almost 20 percent of American's living in rural areas, those voters can have a huge impact on who wins and who loses. MASLYN: The rural vote is very important in this year's election because if you look at the most recent battleground maps, most of the toss-up states tend to be states with large rural populations. American Farm Bureau public policy director Mark Maslyn says rural voters have traditionally favored more conservative candidates, but Senator McCain cannot take them for granted this year. MASLYN: You look at the competitive states, president bush carried a good many of those fairly strongly. Georgia for example, is leaning McCain but by a much smaller margin than it was with president bush. The other states in play, Missouri, North Carolina, Nevada, these are all states that Senator McCain should be doing very well in and yet he is struggling. In fact, rural Americans seem to be as split as voters in the rest of the country. MASLYN: Part of the reason is the issues tend to cut across party lines. If you look at Senator Obama's issues and decisions on taxes, on trade there's some concerns there. If you look at Senator McCain's positions on energy there are some concerns there as well. Certainly overarching most of this is the economic crisis that we're confronted with. Maslyn says that the rural areas may hold some surprises and will be a major factor in the election. MASLYN: What's interesting about this election is that there are still so many states that are competitive. And even in states that have large urban populations that you would expect to go for Senator Obama the rural areas are still in play. I certainly think that rural voters will be diligent in turning out for this year's election because there are, in addition to the presidency, the entire House of Representatives, a third of the senate and many state legislatures' and governors' races likewise. So it's going to be a big turnout year, I think by all accounts, particularly in rural America. How will the election go? I just can't say but one thing is for sure, you need to you're your vote count. That's today's Line On Agriculture. I'm Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.