re: #155 Obdicut
Rural populations used to be ‘progressive’, economically. Farmers were a large part of the economic liberals during the New Deal.
What changed that a lot was the appeal made by the GOP to white voters, starting with the Southern Strategy and continuing into today’s self-deporation/just want free stuff/birtherism strategy.
Debs did his best in fact in rural states like Montana, Idaho, and others. I agree the Southern Strategy is what explains this more than anything.