Obama wins rural Kentucky support

You heard it from me: Obama has oodles of support in rural Kentucky (which the punditocracy thought was a McCain stronghold).

I'm a Green, and I've discussed before how the DLC has contributed to the Democrats' self-demolition in rural areas by shifting the party away from economic populism. I believe the trend would be worse if Hillary Clinton was the nominee, despite her doing better in rural areas in the primary (for primaries have a lot of DLC influence). But if the sign war was any gauge, Obama would win rural parts of northern Kentucky hands-down.

Take Camp Springs, for instance. Camp Springs is a rural community in Campbell County. Though Campbell County has a vexingly large suburban base, Camp Springs seems to be miraculously free of exurban sprawl, possibly because of hilly terrain. I was there in May, and it was still a country crossroads, not an exurb full of new fall-apart mansions and big box stores.

Though Bush managed to win Camp Springs twice (also a miracle), I'm told that if you go there now, Obama campaign signs greet travelers.

I know that's just the sign war, and I don't know how many other rural Kentucky communities have seen the same phenomenon. But I've done a lot of work and recreation in rural Kentucky, and I've never lived far from the line between urban and rural. Geographically, I'm much closer to what are supposedly among Obama's weakest areas than I am to Berkeley or New York.

I don't visit every Kentucky county every year, but folks tell me what's going on when I can't check for myself. Obama may very well surprise some people who think he can't win rural Kentucky precincts. (I never said he wasn't going to win any, even with the rural GOP trend.)