Believe it or not, there actually ARE rural white people who vote for Democrats, but they have been ignored for so long that I can understand why many of them don't bother to vote. They live in small towns or rural counties where all of the elected officials are Republicans. They may or may not have a local party, and if they do it's probably small and underfunded.
The outreach should be to these people - not to the hardcore white Republicans that will never vote for a Democrat.
Why does it matter? It matters a LOT in statewide elections, such as for Governor and Senator. Every vote adds to the tally in those elections. It would also matter in the Presidential election.
Here in NC, we have a sizable rural white population, of course. We also have a relatively large rural African-American population in the northeastern part of the state, and also in the inland counties that border South Carolina. The NC Dem Party has stopped reaching out to those people, too - and you can see the results in our elections for statewide offices. Yes, our natural constituencies are in urban areas, but right now that's not quite enough.
Remember Dean's 50 State Strategy? In NC we need a 100-county strategy. Same thing in Virginia - go for EVERY vote and don't ignore rural Democrats.
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