Rural voters (and issues) in the news

The National Rural Assembly released this morning the results of a bi-partisan poll that shows Romney leading President Obama among rural voters in swing states by a margin of 14 points, with 54% of the vote. The results are covered thoroughly in The Daily Yonder and were featured in an NPR story this morning. An excerpt from the NPR story follows:

The nation's smallest and most remote places are providing Mitt Romney's biggest margins in battleground states as the 2012 presidential race enters its final weeks. 

In fact, rural counties are keeping Romney competitive in the states that are now up for grabs. That's what a new bipartisan survey indicates. The poll also finds that President Obama's rural support has plunged since 2008.

Only 2% of voters surveyed indicated they were undecided or noncommittal. The survey shows Obama with far less rural support than he had in 2008, and it appears to make Romney more competitive than other recent indicators have suggested in these key states.   

The telephone survey of 600 voters in nonmetropolitan counties "in nine battleground states" was conducted in mid-September.  A bipartisan polling team produced the survey for the Center for Rural Strategies of Whitesburg, Kentucky, a "group trying to attract attention to rural issues," for which The Daily Yonder is a news service.  

Another NPR story this morning discussed the significance of smaller media markets in swing states such as Colorado.

Gail Collins also makes quite a few references to rural voters --or more precisely, what are perceived as rural issues, e.g., the farm bill, hunting, and the U.S. Postal Service--in this column over the week-end.