Most presidential candidates decline invitations to speak to first National Rural Assembly

Organizers of the first National Rural Assembly, which concluded yesterday with a visit to a congressional hearing on rural issues, invited all 15 major presidential candidates to address the gathering of almost 300 rural advocates, from state Farm Bureau officials to the Children's Defense Fund's Southern regional office.

None of the candidates appeared live at the gathering in Chantilly, Va., though Democrats John Edwards and Dennis Kucinich sent videotaped messages. The only one with a live, interactive satellite feed was Hillary Clinton. She won applause by saying "I know you’re working hard in Chantilly, developing a much-needed rural strategy. But when I become president you’ll be doing it in the White House. We need to move rural issues right into decision-making in America."

Howard Berkes of National Public Radio reported, "The crowd loved that, but the respondents to the rural poll released two weeks ago rated Clinton as the candidate they liked least. She was as unpopular in the poll as illegal immigrants. It’ll take more than promises of attention to win a significant number of rural votes."

Dee Davis, president of the Center for Rural Strategies, which commissioned the poll of rural voters, told Berkes that rural voters aren’t well-organized, perhaps because they’re spread far and wide. "They don’t see themselves as a political constituency, so politicians don’t either," Berkes reported. "Polling indicates they don’t hinge their votes on issues that are unique to rural life." To listen to Berkes' report, click here.

Bill Bishop, co-editor of the Daily Yonder, a new, rural news Web site with a political bent, told Berkes, "The votes that count now are signed at the bottom of a check. And there just aren’t many checks coming out of rural areas." Bishop and geographer Tim Murphy recently reported that only 5 percent of contributions to presidential candidates came from rural areas. "So if now is the time of the campaign when candidates are raising money," Berkes said, "in a way it makes sense to not show up at a rural event."