Speaker Pelosi A Hit In Rural Community

The reviews are in: Speaker Pelosi is a hit in the rural community, according to an editorial in the Captial Times. Delivering the keynote address at the National Farmers Union's 105th annual convention, Speaker Pelosi said she would "insert agricultural-disaster relief into an Iraq war spending bill and aggressively promote alternative fuels." As the Orlando Sentinel reports:

But Pelosi said that Bush and Republicans, many of whom represent districts that have been hit by drought or severe cold snaps, must be convinced to back the farm-aid-disaster spending measures.

"President Bush has made clear his opposition to comprehensive disaster relief," Pelosi told the 105th convention of the National Farmers Union. "We need to change his mind."
[...]
"This is the most excitement I've seen in agriculture in a long time," House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson, D-Minn., told the farmers group. "There is an optimism that is rejuvenating rural America."

More from the Capital Times:

Along with the new Democratic chairmen of the House and Senate Agriculture Committees, Minnesota's Colin Peterson and Iowa's Tom Harkin, Pelosi has worked hard to get farm and rural issues back on the party's agenda. Even before she was speaker, in 2003, Pelosi urged the formation of an advisory panel of House members to focus on policy matters that are of particular concern to farmers and rural residents.

More than just offering words, this is real evidence of the Democratic Party working to improve the lives of Americans living in rural communities. Democrats have made tremendous inroads in these communities as the Republicans fail to address rural issues.