Message Tailored For Bluejean Set

Va. Democrat Courts Rural Voters

FLOYD, Va. -- The line to see former television star Ben "Cooter" Jones of "The Dukes of Hazzard" fame was already 60 people deep, and the bluegrass band inside Ray's Restaurant was belting out a tune about being "country poor but country proud."

Dave "Mudcat" Saunders was not satisfied. Jones was posing for photos and signing autographs at the Oct. 2 campaign event, but he wasn't wearing anything that showed he was supporting Democrat Eric Ferguson, a candidate for a House of Delegates seat in southwestern Virginia.

"Cooter doesn't have a Ferguson sticker on! Someone get him a sticker!" Saunders said. "Cooter" was the friendly mechanic on the television show and pal of the main characters, Bo and Luke Duke.

Immediately, Joe Stanley, the campaign manager, rushed over and slapped a black-and-yellow "Ferguson for Delegate" sticker on Jones, who kept on smiling, shaking hands and signing autographs.

"That's more like it," Saunders said in his raspy drawl. "These people need to know he's for our boy."

Saunders, a political consultant from Roanoke, helped mastermind Gov. Mark R. Warner's successful effort to win over rural voters in 2001. And to him, the music, the television personalities, the symbols of rural America are the way that Democrats can begin to communicate in traditionally Republican areas such as the 9th House District, east and south of Roanoke.

"It is culturally and socially unacceptable to identify yourself as a Democrat down here," said Saunders, 56, who was casually dressed in shorts, sneakers and a baseball cap. More specifically, he added that Democrats have lost the support of "rural white males. Why? Because they feel like the Democrats look down on their culture. So if it means getting Cooter, or a bluegrass band or whatever, we need to reach out with what touches people."

Saunders's first stab at the approach was Warner's campaign. He helped develop and execute a strategy that included touring Republican-leaning areas with blaze-orange "Sportsmen for Mark Warner" bumper stickers, a bluegrass campaign song and sponsorship of a pickup on the NASCAR race circuit. The approach is credited with helping Warner win two of the state's three rural congressional districts.

Saunders's latest quest is on behalf of Ferguson, a native of the district, who is challenging Allen W. Dudley (R-Franklin), a six-term delegate. Saunders, Ferguson and campaign manger Stanley have steered the campaign not only by inviting well-known personalities like Jones, a former Democratic congressman from Georgia, but also by having bluegrass legend Ralph Stanley cut ads and play at fundraisers for Ferguson. Their campaign motto: Ferguson is an "old-timey Democrat."

"These are people who have voted Republican for years. We're trying to tell them: 'It's okay to vote for a Democrat again,' " said Ferguson, 43, a lawyer who is running in his first race. Leaders in both parties are watching the race closely and say it has been tight for most of the fall.

"We have to be able to tell people that we care about them, but first they want to know if we're going to take away their gun," he said.

Democrats in Virginia are concentrated in urban areas. Republicans were able to take over the legislature in the 1999 elections largely by winning over rural voters with staunch support for gun rights and the death penalty.