Platforms tell real presidential story

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Before rural America loses an eye to campaign mudballs, election year slime and rose-colored lies, let’s go where farm and ranch voters rarely venture. Let’s examine the Republican and Democratic farm policy platforms.
Oh stop whining; it will take only a moment.
Short, not sweet. Indeed, the entire Republican farm platform is but three paragraphs of the party’s 93-page, 48,000-word tome. The Democratic counterpart is brevity itself, one paragraph of the party’s 41-page snore.
Since the GOP farm plan is lengthier, it holds more soft soap. U.S. farm and ranch families, according to the Republicans, embody “the best values of our nation: hard work, love of the land and love of our country.”
Now that’s blue ribbon schmoozing.
The Democratic platform writers, however, turn smoozing into losing in just eight words: “Small towns are at the heart of America, but today, they are often losing people, jobs and hope.”
No substance. After that opening downer, the Dems turn to what they do best; they get supportive.
“We,” the platform royally pledges, will boost investment in rural technology, “ensure

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Alan Guebert was raised on an 800-acre, 100-cow southern Illinois dairy farm. After graduation from the University of Illinois in 1980, he served as a writer and editor at Professional Farmers of America, Successful Farming magazine and Farm Journal magazine. His syndicated agricultural column, The Farm and Food File, began in June, 1993, and now appears weekly in more than 70 publications throughout the U.S. and Canada. He and spouse Catherine, a social worker, have two adult children. farmandfoodfile.com

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