Check out Dave Neiwert's post Back To The Roots. He's looking at how the Dems have basically abandoned rural voters and how that has hurt us in the last few elections. In 2000 and in 2004 both Gore and Kerry had good programs outlined for addressing the problems that rural America faces, but neither one pursued those programs in a way that engaged rural voters.
My family lives in a very rural area of Michigan and I was back in early October. The place was NOT wall-to-wall Bush/Cheney. There are Democrats there. And if we can figure out how to get the message across to them in an honest and sincere way, we can get more of them.