- The Washington Times - Friday, January 19, 2024

A  poll released Friday revealed that support among rural voters for both President Biden and former President Trump Donald is lackluster, with nearly one-third of respondents saying their votes are still up for grabs.

A Colby College poll found that 64% of rural voters say they plan to vote in November for Mr. Trump, the runaway favorite for the Republican presidential nomination, compared with 35% who said they would vote for Mr. Biden.

But the poll found that 31% of likely rural Trump voters said their vote was a vote against Mr. Biden and only about 30% said they were “very happy” with Mr. Trump at the top of the GOP ticket.

Just 29% of rural Biden supporters said they are “very happy” that he is the nominee ,and only 38% think it’s “very likely” that he’ll beat Mr. Trump in November. More than half, about 53%, said their vote for Mr. Biden is more of a vote against Mr. Trump.

“Whether rural voters are full-throated supporters of the GOP and conservative policies is an open question,” said Nicholas Jacobs, an assistant professor of government and a co-researcher on the survey.

“Much of this support is a reaction against Democrats and a widely perceived disregard for the fate of rural life and rural people. If Biden can show that he authentically cares about rural voters, that his administration has actually invested in rural America, and convince voters that he hears their concerns about border security, he could make some headway in the countryside, especially with the third of Trump voters who might be up for grabs,” he said.

Among the third of Trump voters who said they were simply voting against Mr. Biden, 20% said immigration is the top issue confronting the country, ranking it ahead of the economy.

About 27% of rural voters said the economy is in “horrible” shape, and 39% said their community was doing worse than the country as a whole. Half of the respondents said they have yet to recover financially from the COVID pandemic.

The poll also found that Mr. Biden’s message that democracy is at stake in the 2024 election has fallen flat with rural voters. Although 70% said they believe the future of the country is at stake, only 27% of rural voters — including 23% of Trump voters — said people should take “drastic action” to stop either Mr. Trump or Mr. Biden from taking office.

The survey polled 2,500 likely voters between Jan. 5 and Jan. 10.

• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.

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