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Rural economic woes may provide opening for Obama

(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-08-18 11:36

BELLEVILLE - The folks in this picturesque mountain community with red barns and Amish buggies have been voting overwhelmingly Republican in national elections for decades.

Levi Himes, 4, looks at a baby chick his mother, Melissa Himes, holds a chick during a poultry auction at the Belleville Farmers Market & Livestock in Belleville, Pa., Wednesday, April 30, 2008.  [Agencies]

But tough economic times in Mifflin County and in rural areas all around the country have created possible openings for Democrat Barack Obama.

US President Bush won nearly 70 percent of the county's vote in both 2000 and 2004, but the standard of living here has declined steadily during his administration.

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The farm equipment factory that employed 500 workers here is closing. So is the milk plant. Farmers are facing skyrocketing feed and fertilizer costs, and gas prices are squeezing household budgets of those who now have to drive elsewhere for work.

Nationally, Bush won almost 60 percent of the rural vote, but Republican John McCain doesn't appear to be doing as well.

In a poll in June, rural voters favored McCain over Obama, 40 percent to 34 percent. About 34 percent of rural voters said McCain "shares my values," compared to 27 percent who said Obama did.

Recognizing an opportunity, Obama has opened more offices in rural areas than any other Democratic presidential candidate in years, pushing a message focused on job creation. Neighborhood campaign teams have been going door to door talking about Obama and his economic policies. In Ohio, his campaign recently announced a "Barns for Obama" effort, in which farmers are encouraged to paint their barn with Obama's logo.

Economy is hardly the only issue, here as elsewhere.

Religion and race are still powerful forces in rural America, and whether Obama can gain ground in traditional rural safe havens for Republicans could hinge on whether voters focus more on economic issues or cultural values when they go to the polls. Likability is also likely to be a strong factor.

Republican Barbara Dettloff, 72, a retired bartender from Racine, Ohio, an Appalachian river town with about 750 people, voted for Bush in 2004 and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney in this year's Republican primary. She's voting for Obama in November because "I think he's nice and I think he's sincere in what he says."

But, she added, "I'm probably the only person in this town that does."

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