The key point about rural communities, understood in this way, is that the people who live in them are not individuals who make up their minds about issues and elections based on only individually held economic interests or personal anxieties. The communities in which they live influence them as well, defining the moral fabric of what they consider to be right and good. It matters greatly, therefore, if people perceive—correctly or incorrectly—that the communities upholding their way of life are in danger.
