Candidates shouldn’t ignore rural America

The 2016 campaign has been marred by division. One big divide that continues to exist is the gap of knowledge and understanding between rural and urban communities.

It is often assumed that when a candidate focuses on rural America, it is an homage to traditional social and economic values. Gun rights and farming, for example, are what many assume plays well in rural communities. To a certain extent this is true, but the reality is more complex.

Rural areas and small or medium-size towns can be incubators for economic development. They may not be as flashy as the many tech hubs around the country, but the growth in tourism, food production and technology and revolutions in agriculture are important opportunities for rural communities to contribute to the American economy.

Rural voters may care deeply about grazing rights on federal land, but more than anything they are interested in good jobs and a solid economy, opportunities for their children and living in safe, welcoming communities.

Rural voters do often feel left out of a political system in which candidates tend to focus on the densely populated counties and cities in a handful of swing states. But there are millions of people who live in small, rural communities.

Many of these communities are part of a network that farms the land and provides this country with an incredible bounty of food, clothing and fuel for its people and the economy. With modern technology and communications, smaller towns have become productive places to start new businesses and entrepreneurship has begun to flourish in these communities.

These areas are worthy of attention by candidates for national and statewide offices.

This is not to neglect the enormous challenges facing our cities. Although they manifest themselves differently, the challenges rural and urban communities face are remarkably similar. Crumbling infrastructure, economic development, uneven educational opportunities, drugs and crime afflict American communities large and small.

Global trends show that cities are the preferred community of many millions of people, but there is also evidence that many Americans are moving back to smaller towns and rural areas. Let us not forget the important role that rural communities and small-town America play in our economy, in our history, in our society and, importantly, in our politics.

This story was originally published June 18, 2016 at 12:01 AM with the headline "Candidates shouldn’t ignore rural America."