WI: Politically Active American Farmers

Straha

Banned
American farmers seem rather boring, if I do say so myself. For a short while, the Populist movement seemed to show that the farmers of America can be active politically, instead of going with the status quo. Today, farmers in countries like France are well known for being active with protests that Rev. Jackson would be impressed with. You have people like Prince Charles himself crusading for farmers in Britain. But what of America? Oddly, American farmers just do seem to be active as much as they used to be. I don't remember any major candidate for any party nomination, Republican or Democrat, who tried to campaign themselves as the supporter of the Farmers. Nor did Farmers seem to demand change or anything, unless you see Nader's candidacy as that.
So WI American Farmers got politically active. I know that roughly 4% of the American population are farmers, but I'd say that the farmers are the single American group that is very small, yet has the possibility of being very politically active. They all but control, through direct or indirect means, all of the Great Plains states. Farmers could be a strong voice in some of the far New England states, like Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont, if not the majority when allied with other activists who share their views. In the Deep South, they could do the same as in the Upper New England states. And in the swing states around the Great Lakes, farmers could be a strong swing vote to help parties closest to their views. Even in places like New York and California, where they would never be able to defeated the views of the urbanites who control the states, could could have Farmers electing Congressmen from rural districts.
Maybe I'm optimistic. But why couldn't we see American farmers
become active once more in politics? The Religious Right, the NAACP,
the Environmentalists, Hispanic, etc. African-Americans are only 10% of
the population, Hispanics 7% but were crucial in states like Florida. The Farmers at 4% would be stronger (IMHO) than the other ethnic groups because Farmers are posed to win states in the Great Plains (Helping them in the Senate, where representation is equal) and are generally in a better positions, as opposed to being concentrated in specific areas. Prince Charles just donated around 720,000 dollars (US, converted it into dollars just so I could understand it easier) to help farmers in Britain. Would Bill Gates do something like that? Bush? Gore?
McCain?
 
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