6 days Ago
I don't recall much mention this past election cycle about the Farm Bill, which could have a profound effect on the Midwest. I suppose it's not such a big deal in the "swing states." For many decades automation and economics depopulated rural towns, leaving small communities struggling and the people left behind with falling valuations, loss of services and no way out.
Not something those in the "pathways to victory" seem interested in. In the Great Plains states a concern is handling immigration logically and expediently as a guest worker program, not the emphasis applied in the "battle ground states." There are plenty of Midwest, rural, ag-based issues that get little mention in swing state races: rural health care, persistent drought and sinking groundwater levels, the rise of monocultures in the ag belt (locally it's all about corn and soy), whether we're ready to get past the gender of candidates for the presidency (gasp) .
.. People are also reading.
.. The Electoral College trains candidates to worry about issues shared by a small group of states.
And it teaches us voters to pay too much attention to pundits with big electronic maps presenting the logic of swing states balloting. It's time to retool the Electoral College system and get candidates to acquaint themselves with the variety of issues from one corner of the nation to the other. With a president-elect who won the popular vote and will accrue the required electoral votes, now's the time.
Steve Miller, Beatrice Catch the latest in Opinion Get opinion pieces, letters and editorials sent directly to your inbox weekly!.
