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That the Democrats have all but abandoned rural America in policy and practice during recent presidential election cycles may have to do with a faulty demographic map -- a lack of awareness of what it really takes to win a presidential election -- or it just may have to do with their candidates’ comfort level out beyond the sprawl.
Or, you know, maybe something about how rural white America abandoned the Democratic Party and its rural-as-they-come president for Ronald Reagan in 1980? That wasn't exactly a rustic-but-wise, salt-of-the-earth move, there.
Yes, the presumption that the party had lost its blue-collar constituency forever and that there was no use trying to win it back was emblematic of its general lack of institutional imagination. It took Bill Clinton to drag Democrats by the nose back to the reality of electoral politics and they still seem to want to bolt from it every chance they get.
But for all the failures of Democratic politicians on the campaign trail, it's not as if Appalachia or even rural America as a whole has been awash with Republican candidates the whole while.
What has happened is that middle America has been duped, for a long time, and hasn't ever wanted to admit it. If Obama can find a way for white blue collar working class voters to come over while also saving face, that will be the ticket.
