Farmers for Biden? Rural support for Dems 'rebounding' over Trump’s agricultural policies

With poll after poll showing a very close race, President Joe Biden's reelection campaign is hoping that a wide variety of voters — from liberals and progressives to Never Trump conservatives and independents — will show up to support him on Election Day. Biden's team is also hoping that Black and women voters will give him strong support.

Another demographic that Democrats are hoping will be helpful to Biden's reelection prospects, according to The Guardian's Stephen Starr, is farmers.

Starr reports that concerns about former President Donald Trump's agricultural and tariff policies could benefit Biden's campaign in states with a lot of farming.

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"In important farming states such as Iowa, debates have raged over how another Trump presidency could cost farmers dearly," Starr explains. "During Trump's previous tariff campaign that began in 2018, many farmers in Michigan, an election swing state, railed against the former president's actions."

Starr adds, "Back then, the Trump Administration attempted to ease the financial pain it inflicted upon the agriculture community and ensure farmers continue to vote for him by paying out $52bn in subsidies in 2020 alone."

Starr notes that Biden "remains unpopular with farmers," pointing out that Christopher Gibbs — an anti-Trump farmer in Ohio — is "among only 12 percent of U.S. farmers who typically vote for candidates of the Democratic Party. But according to Starr, "results from a host of 2022 midterm races suggest that at the state and local level, support for Democratic Party candidates in Rural America may be rebounding."

"Research shows that under the Biden Administration, farming incomes have increased significantly, in large part due to government assistance and a post-pandemic bump in demand for agricultural products," Starr observes. "What's more, polls suggest a large number of rural Americans may vote for third-party or write-in candidates in November — a prospect that would hurt Trump more than Biden."

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Read The Guardian's full article at this link.