Torrington, Wyo.

It's hard to ignore a town with signs that shout "welcome bikers!" and invite visitors to use its restrooms.

But there is a sense among residents here, as in many rural communities across the country, that they are invisible - at least politically.

"You ask most of rural America, and they will say neither party has a vision or game plan for us," said Rich Campbell, a doctor, waiting for an early-morning coffee at Java Jar on Main Street, where most of the stores are independently owned. "There is no respect for agriculture. No planning for our infrastructure. No understanding of the long distances people have to go to access medical care."

That sentiment has many political and rural experts predicting a bitter battle between the political parties to capture the votes of rural America.

Although these areas tend to lean Republican, support for President Bush and the Iraq war has waned, according to a bipartisan poll commissioned by the Center for Rural Strategies and released in June. Asked if they support a generic Democratic or Republican presidential candidate, rural voters narrowly picked the Democrat.

Rural America remains conservative, with social issues in the forefront, but these voters are also consumed by economic concerns and the lack of job opportunities. Regardless of what party they belong to, many say they vote for the candidate who can help them, not the party.

"I've never voted a straight ballot. It doesn't take brains to vote across the board, said Bess Isaacs, the 82-year-old owner of R.W. Isaacs Hardware store who still works about 50 hours a week. "Although right now I'm not impressed by either side."

Ignoring these areas can be politically lethal for candidates. While rural voters make up only about 23 percent of the electorate, they have affected the past four presidential elections.

Former President Clinton, a Democrat, appealed to enough rural residents to receive almost 50 percent of their votes in 1992 and 1996. President Bush won in 2000 and 2004 by netting 60 percent or more of the rural vote.

"It shows that to win as a Republican, you need the lion's share of rural votes. For Democrats to win, you have to neutralize those voters," said Seth McKee, a University of South Florida professor who analyzed rural voters in presidential elections from 1992 to 2004.

Exit polling shows that religion, gender and what region of the country they live in take a back seat to the residents' rural status in voting, Mc Kee said.

Yet when the W.G. Kellogg Foundation and the Ford Foundation sponsored a National Rural Assembly in June near Washington, D.C., that was attended by more than 300 rural leaders from 43 states, no candidates attended. (Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton had a live satellite feed, and Democrats John Edwards and Dennis Kucinich sent videos.)

It was frustrating, if not surprising, to the attendees, who were trying to raise awareness of rural issues and develop policy initiatives, said Dee Davis, president and founder of the Center for Rural Strategies.

"Neither party can say they've done a good job in rural areas. Both of them should be pretty embarrassed," he said.

Campaign donations slight

There are a number of theories on why candidates don't pay much attention to rural voters.

They don't donate much. During the first quarter this year, rural voters' donations represented only 5 percent of all contributions to presidential candidates, according to an analysis by the Daily Yonder, the Web arm of Rural Strategies.

Getting to far-flung areas is time- consuming, and crafting an effective message is difficult because many politicians don't understand the complexities of rural America, Dee and others said. For instance:

Although deeply patriotic, many rural residents don't fit into a Democratic or Republican box when it comes to Iraq.

Fewer jobs have resulted in a higher rate of enlistment in rural areas, according to the Carsey Institute at the University of New Hampshire. Those areas suffer the highest casualties per capita in Iraq, The Associated Press found.

Chuck Fairchild, who lives in the Colorado mining town of Creede, blames Washington politicians for much of the problems with the war, but he calls himself "old-fashioned" in his attitudes.

"If you start a job, you have to finish it," said the 55-year-old former miner who is now the director - "don't call me a curator" - of Creede's mining museum.

The escalating cost of fuel is starting to cripple some rural residents, who often must travel long distances and have businesses that depend on it.

"No one is paying attention"

Cindy Goertz and her husband, Gregor, are trying to keep their Wheatland, Wyo., ranch and farm afloat, but the rising fuel prices on top of seven years of drought have taken a toll on their organic beef company, Wyoming Pure, and their wheat, oats, millet and hay crops.

Cindy is a Republican; Gregor is a Democrat. She said she's starting to lean toward his party. Although she historically hasn't supported government programs, she's thinking it may be time for some help.

"It's like no one is paying attention. Agriculture is in trouble" she said. "We can't absorb the costs ... and we can't plan for the future."

Democratic and Republican strategists said Goertz is representative of what's going on in rural America.

"The reason rural communities are competitive now is not because they love the Democrats. It's because they fell out of love with the Republicans," said Dave Walker, whose Democratic polling firm, Greenberg Quinlan Rosner, conducted the poll for Rural Strategies in conjunction with the GOP media firm Greener and Hook.

Walker and William Greener said that to capture rural votes, both parties must find cultural and economic connections.

"Voters aren't looking for grandstanding or cheap symbolic performance," Greener said.

Both parties out of step

But Davis pointed out that both parties are often out of step. One of the biggest mistakes Washington makes is dealing with economic development through farm subsidies, he said.

"It doesn't matter that only about 2 percent of the rural population make their primary living on a farm," said Davis, citing "The Failure of National Rural Policy: Institutions and Interest" by William P. Browne.

If it's not subsidies, economic development in rural communities often means accepting things that most people don't want in their backyard.

Boyce counts his town of Clayton, tucked into the northeastern corner of New Mexico, lucky in getting a prison. At one point, it looked as if it might get a meatpacking plant.

"Those are dirty, dangerous jobs. We were willing to take it, but thank God we didn't get it," he said.

The prison, which the smiling, gray-mustachioed Boyce prefers to call a "detention center," will bring 200 jobs and pay $12.50 an hour - more than twice the minimum wage.

Not only could that make a difference in a cattle-ranching community where most of the 2,500 people hold low-paying jobs on the land or in service industries, but Boyce hopes it will fill some empty shops on Main Street.

Government jobs also mean medical insurance, a luxury in this area. Chrystal Jonas, 23, is a home health care worker - but isn't covered herself.

"My kids get Medicaid, but there's no cheap insurance I can afford," said Jonas, dressed in multicolored medical scrubs and flanked by her 6-year-old son and her daughter, 5.

No growth in Creede

Unlike Clayton, Creede isn't anticipating an expansion beyond its 350 residents. School enrollment numbers have dipped to about 100 students.

"There's no jobs for them. There isn't much industry in town," said Robert Wardell, 71, a retired Creede judge who drives a 1949 Ford 1 pickup.

Since the silver mine closed in 1985, the town has used its ghost towns, abandoned mines and spectacular scenery for tourism. On the Fourth of July, the town attracts as many as 13,000 people, said Paige Widger, one of the few young people in town. At just 17, she's running the chamber of commerce.

But the winters are bitter cold, and most shops are open only May through September. Some, like Ken Wyley, a former miner who runs the general store in the summer and does carpentry work in the winter, still eye the price of silver in hopes that the mine might reopen.

"It would bring people back," said Wyley, sitting behind the counter in a baseball cap a couple shades lighter than mud. "But there are too many federal regulations, and that makes things hard."

There is fear things may get worse. The Environmental Protection Agency is considering putting one of Creede's mines on its Superfund list. That frightens business owners and other residents who equate the EPA with another town: Leadville.

About 170 miles north of Creede, Leadville spent more than 20 years after being dubbed a Superfund site struggling with the label of "contaminated" just as it was trying to shift its economy from mining to tourism.

Though many towns across rural America are struggling, there are indications that a little bit of economic development can get them back on their feet.

Torrington sees a future

In Torrington, Wyo., where farmers, teachers and sugar-plant employees dominate the economy and the average resident is 53 years old, change is afoot.

Like Clayton, Torrington is also getting a prison, which is expected to generate 300 jobs. Construction has started, housing permits have tripled, and the bank is expanding. An ethanol plant is processing locally grown corn, and entrepreneurship is making inroads.

"I think in the last three years we've seen the biggest changes possibly in our history," said City Councilman Randy Adams.

Heartland BioComposites, which blends wheat straw and recycled plastic to make fences that don't rot or splinter, moved into Torrington two years ago.

Based in a conservative town, the company is making a "green" product that appeals to many liberals.

Founder Heath Van Eaton, who employees about 40, chose Torrington for a number of reasons, including the fact that Wyoming offered economic incentives that Colorado didn't.

"People are putting development near highly populated areas or outsourcing to China," he said. "It's sad. Rural America has a lower cost and better product."

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