DaytonDailyNews.com

Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry tried to win Ohio in 2004 by getting out the urban vote.

It wasn't enough. The 91,000 vote margin Kerry held over George W. Bush in Ohio's urban, suburban and exurban areas got wiped out by Bush's 210,000-vote advantage in the state's rural counties.

In the 2008 presidential race, Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) has a different strategy. He's still going after traditional Democratic urban strongholds, but he's also planning a robust campaign across rural and small-town Ohio.

"He's not afraid to go rural," said Doug O'Brien, Obama's rural vote director in Ohio.

Since sewing up the nomination, Obama has bought sweet corn in Marengo and peaches and apple fritters in Edinburg. He toured a food and clothing bank in Zanesville and attended a church service in Lima. He even spent time in Dillonvale, population 700.

Obama also hopes to capitalize on Republican presidential nominee John McCain's opposition to the farm bill and to a federal mandate for ethanol usage, which left some farmers feeling betrayed.

"This could mean a switch in the traditional rural vote from the GOP to the Democratic Party," the Ohio Corn Growers Association claimed in a Sept. 4 e-mail.

Doug Holtz-Eakin, senior policy adviser for the McCain campaign, said McCain is supportive of ethanol, but won't support a mandate for its use, nor a farm bill "too littered with earmarks." According to Holtz-Eakin, McCain's low-tax philosophy appeals to small businesses that are rural Ohio's lifeblood and he is more in touch with rural Ohio voters on social issues such as gun rights.

"He's certainly not taking them for granted," Holtz-Eakin added.

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-7457 or

bsutherly@DaytonDailyNews.com.