As the U.S. midterm elections draw nearer, China's agreement to increase purchases of American agricultural products is certainly beneficial for Republicans seeking broader support from rural voters. Rural voters are also a priority for Democrats. In this year’s midterms, Democrats only needed to win a few swing districts in rural areas to reclaim the House of Representatives. However, decades of data show that Democrats have already lost their influence over rural voters. Republicans have eagerly emphasized this shift, putting Democratic candidates in these rural districts at a disadvantage—facing not just Republican opponents but also the burden of their own party label. To many rural Americans, the Democratic Party has become overly urbanized and disconnected from the realities of life in rural America. Farmers were once a reliable voting bloc for Democrats. Southern rural voters, Midwestern farmers, and working-class voters allied with unions helped Democrat Jimmy Carter—a peanut farmer from Georgia—win the White House in 1976. But over the following decades, the Democratic Party’s appeal to these voters began to wane. In 2000, Republicans held a slim lead over Democrats among rural voters, 51% to 46%. Today, that gap has more than doubled—Republicans now lead Democrats by 25 percentage points among rural voters. Among current members of Congress, there are 33 farmers, ranchers, or cattle ranchers, one almond grower, one forester, one orchard worker, and one horse trainer. Yet 140 representatives (31%) and nearly half of the senators hold law degrees and work in legal professions. Only 7% of Congress members have direct ties to agriculture, and most of them are Republicans. The Democratic Party has failed to invest time and resources into winning rural voter support, growing increasingly detached from rural communities. Because of their unpopularity in rural areas, some Democratic candidates have even chosen to run as independents. But after Trump implemented tariff policies and launched military actions against Iran—causing significant price increases and market instability in agriculture—the Democratic Party has seized a rare opportunity to make headway among rural voters.

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Original article: toutiao.com/article/1865414242359435/

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