Washington Bureau

The rural vote

Neither presidential candidate will bode well in November if they don’t court rural voters, pollsters said Monday night.

At the second annual gathering of the National Rural Assembly, the audience gleaned more insight on a poll done in rural battleground states in May.

Despite Republican John McCain’s nine-point lead in the poll, the race will hinge on how much attention the two candidates devote to issues affecting rural voters, such as high gas prices.

McCain or Democrat Barack Obama each has weaknesses with rural voters and neither holds a strong edge with that voting bloc.

“Rural America is going to be a very interesting fight,” said Anna Greenberg, a pollster who helped conduct the survey. “… They don’t really like anybody much.”

And that will force the two candidates to talk about the issues that affect people in rural areas.

“The candidates are obligated to do a little more than spread homilies about rural America,” said Bill Greener, another pollster who worked on the survey.

-- Amy Dominello

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