Niel Ritchie, executive director of the League of Rural Voters ("Many Voices. One Voice"), has started semi-blogging. His first entry is, "Rural Voters May make the Difference in South Carolina." Since South Carolina is about 56 percent rural by the Yonder's count, that is most certainly the case. Until now, the rural vote has been hard to predict. Obama won the rural vote in Nevada and New Hampshire, and just picked up the endorsement from rural Virginia Rep. Rick Boucher. But Clinton ran better in rural Iowa.Ritchie sees a "massive increase in rural voters and the steady migration of these voters away from the Republican party." Rural voters are "motivated for change," Ritchie wrote. "Conditions may be in place for a Democratic wave in 2008 driven by dramatic increases in rural voting." November, and the proof of the pudding, remains nine months away. Keep up with Ritchie at the LRV site.