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Leader of National Rural Advocacy Group Predicts

Rural Voters Will Decide 2008 Presidential Election

WASHINGTON, D. C. – Midwestern and western states with large rural populations will be key battlegrounds in the 2008 presidential election and will likely determine which party controls Congress, the leader of a prominent rural advocacy group said this week.

Barbara Leach, founder and president of My Rural America, predicted that frustration with shrinking economic opportunities and other “kitchen table” issues will prevail over religious and cultural issues that were prevalent earlier in this decade. She made her remarks at the North American Agricultural Journalists’ Conference in Washington, D.C.

Rural voters, troubled by the casualties and costs of the Iraq war and tax policies that favored those in top income brackets over the middle class, became disillusioned with policies favored by right-wing conservatives in 2006 and consequently helped give Democrats narrow majorities in the House and the Senate, said Leach.

Leach noted that rising unemployment, high gas prices and the housing crisis are factors contributing to dissatisfaction among voters in rural areas. She pointed out that Americans living in small towns sacrifice disproportionately on health care and education, two key issues in the upcoming election. “Rural schools serve over 40% of our nation’s students, but receive only 22% of federal education funding,” she said, adding that “Our sons and daughters are also serving disproportionately in the Afghan and Iraq wars”.

My Rural America
610 Constitution Ave., NE ∙ Washington, DC 20002 ∙ Tel: 202-547-4421 www.myruralamerica.org

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