Dan Shea and his colleague Nick Jacobs of Colby College (Maine) have penned a path-breaking book on contemporary rural politics. The Rural Voter will be published by Columbia University Press later this year -- and likely cause a stir. Employing one of the most extensive election data sets ever created and leaning heavily on four waves of national surveys, they argue rural voters have developed a distinct sense of belonging linked to place. Shea will take a quick look at their data and a few key findings, and discuss how Democrats might respond.
