Yesterday I wrote of how Bernie’s comprehensive rural issues platform roundly trounced Hillary’s “Cliff Notes” rural issues statement and moved me from neutrality to backing Bernie.. Today I’ll delve deeper into how Bernie and Hillary have voted on rural issues.
Bernie and Hillary are both big city kids, Bernie more so. Hillary didn’t seem to learn much from her stay in Arkansas, a pretty rural state. Bernie took to rural Vermont like a duck to water, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s the only candidate of either party who splits his own firewood and knows how to build a fire in his wood stove too.
So it was in the senate, too… Hillary was slow to support renewable fuels and displays a big ag ignorance of issues like low crop prices, GMOs, and the continuing concentration of markets and pricing power by just a few major seed and fertilizer suppliers and crop and livestock processors. Bernie fell in love with farming and rural life, and became an ardent defender of family farmers and small businesses. Vermont’s not the kind of geography where you can put your tractor on cruise control and autosteer for a couple miles before you have to wake up and turn around, heck, most Vermont farmers can’t even afford new tractors with all them fancy features. Bernie represents those small farmers well, standing up for quality food produced by quality farmers.
It’s thus no surprise that the preeminent organization of family farmers, the National Farmers Union, gave Hillary low (for a democrat) ratings of 90 for 2001-2, 67 in 2003-4, 83 in 2005-6, and 100 in 2007-8. Bernie received perfect 100 scores for each of those congresses, and another 100 in the latest reported NFU survey for 2009-10.
Bernie continues to demonstrate his commitment to rural folks on the campaign trail- In Iowa during the month of January over half, 18 out of 33, of Bernie’s campaign events were in rural counties. Hillary only managed 29 events (she doesn’t have a day job like Bernie, what does she do with all her time?) and a mere 8 of those events were in rural counties. And while Bernie campaigned in the far corners of Iowa, Hillary’s few rural events seemed suspiciously close to airports capable of handling a business jet…
So Bernie not only talks the talk for rural folks, he walks the walk and represents us better too!