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Friday, September 20, 2013

Political consultant from rural town says secession movement is a rural-vs.-urban debate

"When I hear the word 'secession,' I tend to think of the Confederacy. But today, a new secession movement is taking root, and it is not blue vs. gray but rather rural against urban," writes Matt Barron, a political consultant and rural strategist from Chesterfield, Mass., a town of 1,222. "Across the nation from Michigan’s Upper Peninsula to the Maryland panhandle to northern Colorado and northern California there is growing secessionist movement in rural areas that feel a deep geographic, cultural and political disconnection from their states’ increasingly urban power centers."

"These new rural rebels, inspired by what they say are a litany of grievances over issues such as gun rights, land use and environmental regulations, are pushing to carve out new states and political jurisdictions. But they face long odds and high hurdles to realize their goals," Barron notes. "Although the federal Constitution allows a region to break away with the approval from both a state legislature and Congress, the last time this occurred was back in 1863 when West Virginia gained statehood by jettisoning Virginia."

But even if the attempts at succession fail, they could have a major impact in future elections, Barron writes. In Colorado, unhappy voters already got rid of two Democratic senators who supported new gun controls, with both senators losing recall elections. "Talk has now turned to gunning for the defeat of Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper next year. Hickenlooper is already in hot water with many rural voters in the Centennial State for signing a bill in June that will double the renewable energy requirements for rural electric co-ops, a move that opponents say will drive up utility costs for consumers and irrigation costs for farmers."

And in Maryland, if Gov. Martin O’Malley "goes ahead with plans to seek the Democratic nomination for president in 2016, his rural constituents could make his life miserable in the cornfields of Iowa (the nation’s 14th most rural state) and the woods of New Hampshire (11th most), both early primary states." (Read more)

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