*Rural Dems have beef with Obama*
*By Lisa Lerer and Jonathan Martin Politico*
*June 18, 2009*
Angered by White House decisions on everything from *greenhouse gases*
<http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0409/21370.html> to *car
dealerships* <http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0609/23690.html>,
congressional Democrats from rural districts are threatening to revolt
against parts of President Barack Obamas ambitious first-year agenda.
They dont get rural America, said Rep. *Dennis Cardoza*
<http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0509/22160.html>, a Democrat who
represents Californias agriculture-rich Central Valley. They form their
views of the world in large cities.
Cardozas critique was aimed at Obamas Environmental Protection Agency,
but it echoes complaints rural-district Democrats have about a number of
Obama administration decisions.
I wouldnt say its a complete strikeout, but theyve just got a few more
bases to it when it comes to the rural community, said Louisiana
Democratic Sen. *Mary Landrieu*
<http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0609/23670.html>.
A rural revolt could hamper the administrations ability to pass climate
change and health care legislation before the August recess.
Democrats from farm states are some of the same moderate members Obama
must win to get almost any piece of his agenda through the Senate:
Landrieu and Sens. Max Baucus of Montana, Ben Nelson of Nebraska, and
Blanche Lincoln and Mark Pryor of Arkansas. Without their votes,
Democrats cant move legislation over Republican filibusters such as the
one sure to come if the health care plan that moves through the Senate
includes a public option supported by the administration.
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In the House, rural Democrats threaten to marshal nearly 50 votes
against the climate and energy bill backed by the administration.
For Obama, its a very tough high-wire act, said Frank ODonnell,
executive director of the environmental group *Clean Air Watch*
<http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0508/10129.html>. The farm states
are among those that the Democrats desperately want to keep in the fold
at the same time the farm states historically arent very good on
environmental issues.
Obama made inroads to rural areas during his presidential campaign, a
result of pouring significant resources into rural counties in key
battleground states. According to exit polls, Obama won 43 percent of
the *rural vote* <http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0108/7706.html> a
4 percent increase from Democrat John Kerry in 2004.
But some Democrats complain that Obama hasnt paid much attention to the
rural states since hes been in office.
Wed love to see him out in rural America more, Lincoln said.
The conflict with rural Democrats burst into the open at the Capitol
last week, when rural and moderate Democrats revolted against the
decision to close roughly 3,400 General Motors and Chrysler car
dealerships. The White House Auto Task Force endorsed some of the cuts
in its plans to revamp the companies.
In rural America, especially, the looming closures pose a dire threat.
Car dealers are not only an economic linchpin of many county-seat towns
but also offer support for institutions and a way of life that cant be
easily replaced.
In rural jurisdictions, your dealerships are pretty big employers. If
you knock out four dealerships, the ripple effects of that are
substantial, said Rep. Frank Kratovil (D-Md.), who represents a largely
rural Eastern Shore district and is co-sponsoring a bill that could
force the auto companies to honor their contracts with the rejected
dealerships.
With GM and Chrysler forcing hundreds of local dealerships to close up
shop, members of Congress are scrambling to save thousands of jobs and
warning of severe political consequences that could come from shuttering
what are often community pillars.
Sen. *Kay Hagan* <http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1008/14815.html>
(D-N.C.) questioned how independent owned and operated businesses have
any financial impact on automakers.
None of us can quite understand why they consider dealerships a drag
when they are the ones that buy the cars, that take the financial risks.
Many of the dealerships that are being closed are profitable.
Obama spokeswoman Jen Psaki said that all decisions about specific
dealerships are made solely by the car companies on the basis of what
they believe is in the interests of the long-term health and survival of
their business.
But lawmakers say the car dealership closings are just the latest blow
to rural areas since Obama took office. The first sign of a disconnect
between the White House and rural voters came in the administrations
budget, which included a plan to slash direct payments to farms with
annual gross receipts of more than $500,000. After an outcry from
farm-state lawmakers, Congress dropped the cuts from the budget.
Since then, much of rural Democrats unhappiness with the new
administration has focused on the EPA. While Bush administration
political appointees in the agency were skeptical of stricter
environmental laws, Obamas EPA has moved forward quickly on a host of
new regulations, including limits on greenhouse gas emissions that farm
lobbyists say will raise costs on farmers.
There is a different focus [at EPA] than under the Bush years, said Rick
Krause, senior director of congressional relations for the American Farm
Bureau. And there very well could be some political risk involved.
Rep. Collin Peterson, the chairman of the House Agriculture Committee,
says the urban-rural disconnect under Obama is no worse than it was
under his predecessors.
Were an urban country, and the White House reflects the majority of the
constituency of the country, he said. This is the problem we have with
everything. Folks dont understand what we do.
Still, Peterson wants the Department of Agriculture rather than the EPA
to oversee what kinds of agricultural activities will qualify as offsets
that benefit the climate under the climate change bill. The bill allows
businesses to meet their emissions caps by paying farmers to cut
emissions, a process that could result in big agricultural profits.
A lot of us on the committee dont want the EPA anywhere near our
farmers, Peterson said last week during a committee hearing.
A draft decision by the agency ruling that indirect land use issues must
be considered when calculating the carbon footprint of corn-based
ethanol also angered many in the farming and renewable fuels community.
While these issues play out most dramatically in farm states, they could
have an impact that spreads much further. Forcing rural Democrats to
vote for climate change legislation could create problems for the
Democrats nationally in 2010 and 2012.
If Collin Peterson and these rural and conservative Democrats in the
House are unable to work out some arrangement with [Henry] Waxman and
[Ed] Markey, it could resonate beyond the Beltway, said Al Cross,
director of the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues and
a veteran Kentucky political reporter.
Cross noted that 80 percent of the electricity that rural cooperatives
generate comes from coal-fired power plants the same ones that would
take a hit under the current legislation.
And many of these regions that run on coal also happen to be electoral
swing states, leaving Republicans licking their chops.
It will cost every North Carolinian somewhere in the neighborhood of
$2,400 to $3,000 a year in just the electrical surcharge, said Sen.
Richard Burr, a Republican who hails from a state Obama carried last
year and would like to win again. Thats a surcharge larger than their
annual electric bill.
A White House official said the administration is committed to
alleviating any disproportionate burden on rural states. The president
has been clear that if there is a disparate impact on certain regions
during the transition period, families and businesses should be
compensated the Waxman-Markey legislation includes provisions that do
just that, the official said.
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