How is President Obama, whose background as an urban community organizer was emphasized during the election, relating to rural Americans? Rural opinion of Obama is mixed and incomplete, report Ledyard King and Bill Theobald of Gannett Co. Inc.'s Washington news bureau. The administration's "Rural Tour," favorable appointments and focus on rural improvement in the stimulus plan have earned the president points with rural Americas, the story says, but his plan to limit agriculture subsidies, reform health care reform and pass climate-change legislation haven't been popular.
Obama has tried to reassure rural Americans by emphasizing his support for agriculture through alternative energy production. He also "talked about the importance of computerized health services for remote communities, devoted resources to improving safety on Indian reservations, and initially backed rules by former President George W. Bush allowing concealed, loaded guns into national parks and wildlife refuges,"King and Theobald write.
The reporters examine health care, the stimulus and other spending, climate change and agriculture policies -- issues they say rural Americans will be watching closely this year. "What happens next will tell the tale about whether or not the administration is a friend or foe of rural America," Pat Wolfe of American Farm Bureau says. (Read more)
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