Obama team members to fan out on summer rural tour

Also a great move to woo* rural voters.

WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama is dispatching top administration officials and Cabinet members on a "rural tour" this summer to explore ways to strengthen rural America.

The tour starts Wednesday in Wattsburg, Pa., where Vice President Joe Biden, Commerce Secretary Gary Locke and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack will discuss rural broadband service.

The White House says other events will be held in Alaska, Louisiana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Virginia and Wisconsin. In addition, Vilsack will hold "listening sessions" in other states with local and state elected officials.

*brain fart corrected

Rural-health advocate pegged for Obama Health post

Very nice move. The lack of rural health care is one of those issues that it's very easy to put a literal "face" on.

President Obama might not have a Health and Human Services (HHS) nominee yet, but he announced his choice to lead a lesser-known agency within the department Friday.

Mary Wakefield, a nurse and academic who focuses on rural health issues, is Obama’s nominee to be administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), the White House announced.

“As a nurse, a Ph.D. and a leading rural healthcare advocate, Mary Wakefield brings expertise that will be instrumental in expanding and improving services for those who are currently uninsured or underserved,” President Obama said.

Obama, McCain neck-and-neck for rural vote: poll

I am surprised by this campaign every damn day. Who would have imagined this 18 months ago? But of course, the BFCE targeted that exact spot.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – After trailing by 10 points in U.S. rural areas, Democrat Barack Obama is neck-and-neck with Republican John McCain among rural voters in 13 swing states, a potentially key group for winning the White House, according to a poll released on Thursday.

Obama was supported by 46 percent and McCain by 45 percent of 841 likely voters surveyed from October 5-21, as U.S. financial turmoil deepened, according to the poll commissioned by the nonpartisan Center for Rural Strategies in Whitesburg, Kentucky.

A month ago, the poll showed McCain led 51-41. This time, respondents said Obama would do better than McCain on the economy, taxes and "the financial crisis in the country."

Nearly 20 percent of Americans live in rural areas. They tend to be social and fiscal conservatives. President George W. Bush won rural districts nationwide by 19 points in 2004.