Why Democrats have had so many Problems in Rural Georgia?

First Democrats are going to have to get past the wine-and-cheese,stereotype they carry in Rural Georgia.

We can't allow our opponents to define us as people with no normal values. Democrats cannot let republicans portray they as people that do not like guns, that do not pray & do not believe in christ.

I love my guns, (I myself is a gun owner, who goes to church & believe in Jesus Christ).
Theoretically, the Democratic message should play well in small-town America at a time when the economy lags and corporate scandals are decimating retirement plans. But now, more than ever, Democratic candidates face a cultural problem in certain parts of the state. They must overcome the perceptionthat they are in league with effete urban liberal, people who wouldn't know a Sloppy Joe sandwich, or a Ritz Soda if were to hit them in the face.

The party of Jefferson and Jackson, which not long ago owned the nation's back roads and general stores, is seen in much of the country as disconnected from -- if not contemptuous of -- the people who spend their weekends hunting, at church or watching stock cars.

But the people who run the party, , insist that the party's appeal in rural America is in fact growing; From their point of view, the only thing Democrats need to do in remote areas is talk louder about the economic issues -- like Social Security and health that are the core issues of the party.

Rural Democratic Stategist like David "mudcat" Saunders of North Carolina & Steve Jarding of South Dakota would a big help for whoever the democratic nominee is for Governor, Lt. Governor, & U.S. Senate.

Rural America is being eviscerated by contract farming, by the loss of control of the food chain, by the lack of rural healthcare, by trade policies that are particularly destructive to rural economies

But the party still strays from the economic populism that can counter Republican appeals based on social issues like abortion and opposition to gun control.

'Democrats have the wuss problem.''Rural white guys think we're all a bunch of wusses.

Since the 1960's, when rural white voters, especially in the South, abandoned the party over its support of civil rights, Democrats have increasingly had to depend on their base of urban voters, minority groups and organized labor; in national elections, rural votes have been difficult, if not impossible, to come by.


Remember Lee Atwater, the Republican strategist, tried to sever relations between Democrats and rural America completely in the 1980's by turning every campaign into a war over social issues like affirmative action, abortion, gun control and school prayer -- wedge'' issues that separated liberal Democrats from small-town voters. It worked. By the 1990's, scores of Democratic officeholders in the South were defecting to the G.O.P.

When Michael Dukakis came down here to campaign for Zell Miller when Zell was running for governor, they had a event over in Dodge County & Dukakis people scattered Hay Bales all around the place. That offended Miller, who later said that was worse than him (Dukakis) riding in that Army Tank. Who could forget that?

Rural voters bristle at the fact that in urban America, their chosen pastimes are considered backward, the punch lines to redneck jokes. And so the concept of respect, in rural America, has become a genuine political issue. African-American voters, long bound to the Democratic Party by issues like affirmative action and affordable housing, don't demand that a candidate embrace hip-hop. But to rural voters, an appreciation for stock-car racing, hunting and bluegrass is a critical show of faith -- and it has to precede any serious discussion of Social Security or tax cuts.

Georgia Democrats ought to use a unconventional rural strategy centered on issues that aren't usually the focal point of Democratic campaigns, like taking vocational education and broadband technology to remote areas.

Democrats since losing control in 2002 have happily pandered to urban and suburban voters, showing up at galleries and shopping malls, while rural folks have been ignored. ''Nascar is a part of America's culture. ''Hunting is part of America's culture. There are lots of parts of America's culture, and I'm just suggesting that Democrats got hoodwinked for a long time into believing that we could neglect rural voters. I'll go head to head with any Republican. You want to talk about hunting and fishing? Fine. Now you're on my turf. And I'm a Democrat. But this time Democrats have candidates that bring these voters back into the democratic column like DuBose Porter, David Poythress, Carl Camon, all who has spent a vast majority of their time campaigning here in Rural Georgia. That's what its going to take for Democrats to regain control of the governor's mansion & other statewide offices as well, not to mention local seats for the house & senate. As for Thurbert Baker & Roy Barnes, they haven't spent the time getting to know us rural voters, although Barnes has made appearances in Swainsboro & Americus & Baker in Bainbridge & Statesboro, but that's not enough. If either Baker or Barnes were to become the nominee, they are going to have to put alot of time & effort into getting the rural vote, because democrats just can't rely on the Metro Atlanta area & the Black Belt Rural Counties & Urban areas to defeat the republicans in 2010. That has got to change & it has to next year. I'm not worried about Poythress, Porter, Camon. They will be here if one of them is the nominee. I'm not so sure about Baker & Barnes.