There has been a lot of talk of late about how Obama is surging in the polls. This is not surprising to me, as I think that traditional swing voters are listening to democratic principles seriously for the first time since WWII. Rural people in America have been part of populist movements in the past but the trend for the past 30 years has been that rural America has become the bedrock for the Republican Party. However, I feel that there is real change a foot.
This NPR story really sums up well what I have been noticing:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6121398
It is dated but has become more and more salient.
There are many reasons for this. Farmers and country people are independent, proud people, this is not to say that suburbanites or city people are not independent or proud, but country people are defined by their self-reliance. They hunt to supplement their groceries and are stewards' of their land. They want to be left alone, and do not really care for government rules. Joel Salatin of Omnivore’s Dilemma fame represents to me is a rural voter: intelligent, libertarian, self-sufficient and religious.
Today there are acute stresses on rural people in America. Inflation, raising oil prices and health insurance issues has become insurmountable for many rural people. My parent's were recently dropped by the Mutual of Omaha, losing their health insurance. This company has insured them for many years, and the reason they were dropped? Because they are buying their own insurance, which is something many farmers do, and the Mutual of Omaha no longer wanted to carry independent policy holders. I took up the cause and called them accusing them of denying my parents coverage because they were farmers. The woman on the phone was a farmer's wife herself, her family had a cow and calf operation and she worked for the Mutual of Omaha in costumer service (I PRESUME to supplement their income, and I also suspect for health insurance). The woman could do nothing for them. My parents are not the doctor type; they never go and are extremely health conscious. And at 60 they found themselves uninsured. My father is a committed republican but this experience really threw him for a loop and he is now an enthusiastic Obama supporter.
Inflation, high oil and gas prices are also hurting rural voters. It is dramatic how high gas prices have impacted the lives of rural people. Most rural people live far away from where they work, and have been able to forge out a good life for themselves on a low income. High gas prices have made this lifestyle unmanageable, and many families have to make stressful decisions between groceries and gas. I think these stresses are making us all rethink how we live but to rural voters it is do or die time. Something has to give.
These concerns are all tied to how reliant we are on oil. It is just not smart. So many people are starting to rethink the consolidation our economy has been making regardless of whether they are republican or democrat. This is what is so exciting about grass-fed farming, because it is smart. It makes sense, and can make positive change.
