A intereting new poll conducted by the Center for Rural Strategies shows that the support for Republicans in rural America has crumbled significantly. Normally the large demographic votes overwhelmingly Republican, so the fact that the polls are relatively even is seen as a huge threat to the Republican party in upcoming elections.
from the NPR article on the subject:
from the NPR article on the subject:
from the DMR article on the subject:NPR article wrote:
"I don't think you can overstate how critical (the rural vote) is," says Bill Greener, a Republican political consultant who helped design the bipartisan poll and analyzed its results. "Rural voters have given their votes to Republicans over the years… If we do not do well among (rural voters), it's hard to see how (we can) continue to prevail."
That said, the DMR article also pointed out that the Republicans have an advantage in that they have more incumbents, and rural voters naturally believe in maintaining the status quo:Des Moines Register wrote:
The poll found rural voters:
•Believe the country is on the wrong track. There were 56 percent who said the country was headed in the wrong direction while only 35 percent said things were going in the right direction.
•Are divided about Bush’s performance in office. There were 47 percent who approved of the job he’s doing and 48 percent who disapproved. While that’s not good for Bush, it is a better rating than he gets with the country as a whole.
•Divided evenly between the two parties in races for the U.S. House. Each party captures 45 percent of the rural vote. The rest are undecided or for third-party or non-party candidates.
•In the Senate races measured, gave the Republican candidate 47 percent of the vote and the Democratic candidate 43 percent.
•Gave a slight edge to Democrats when asked which party cares more about rural issues. Democrats won 42 percent; Republicans got 36 percent.
•Mentioned a variety of issues as “most important” to them. The plurality — 17percent — said the war in Iraq was the most important issue to them. Jobs and the economy was mentioned by 14 percent and terrorism and national security were cited by 13 percent. Moral values were cited by 10 percent.
Overall, the poll results would seem to put the Republicans' already-shaky footing for November elections on even shakier ground.Des Moines Register wrote:
Fifty-two percent agreed with the statement that “things in the country could be doing better but the incumbent deserves re-election.” Only 34percent said they were so angry they would vote against the incumbent.