NPR: Poll Shows Rural Voters Shifting to Democrats

[Mark E. Smith]

Twelve days before the midterm elections, Republican congressional incumbents
are struggling to corral a key voter group--rural residents. A new bipartisan
poll indicates that Democrats now dominate rural voters, a critical part of the
Republican base.

The poll was conducted for the non-partisan Center for Rural Strategies, a
Kentucky group working to attract attention to rural issues.

Five hundred likely rural voters were surveyed in 41 heavily contested
congressional districts and six states with close Senate races. Most of the House
districts surveyed here have Republican incumbents. Fifty-two percent of the
respondents indicate they'll vote for Democratic congressional candidates; 39
percent say they'll support Republicans.

This is a dramatic shift from a similar poll conducted last month. At that time,
the rural voters polled split the congressional vote evenly.

"This is not encouraging information for Republicans," says Bill Greener, the
Republican political consultant who supervised and analyzed the bipartisan
poll. "And I think that to pretend otherwise is not helpful."

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6390053

[maddezmom]

1. duplicate topic

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=2583715