Clinton's Strength in Rural Areas

Public Policy Polling identifies the rural areas of North Carolina, where the greatest percentage of "undecideds" live, as Hillary Clinton's great hope for turning around a projected loss in the N.C. primary in a few weeks.

This analysis also uncovers what looks like a weakness in the Obama campaign, not just in North Carolina but elsewhere ... a failure to reach out effectively to rural voters.

The Clinton campaign is using its best weapon to blunt Obama's urban appeal, that cornpone country boy and ex-president Bill.

The urban/rural divide in America is as real as boiled cabbage and sometimes smells worse. Urban assumptions about country people are fraught with negative stereotypes and class bias that are actually older and almost as damaging as racial stereotypes and bias.

In the end, Obama may triumph by sheer urban numbers. Rural residents, as defined by the U.S. Census, now account for less than 25% of all Americans, though they are most numerous in the South.

Still, it would be a good idea if "the change we can believe in" included a brighter future for country people too.