With Sen. Barack Obama campaigning as though he’s the Democratic nominee, I sought out some analysis from the folks he’ll need come November: voters in rural Missouri.

Yesterday, I spoke with Brenda Woemmel, the chair of Cape Girardeau County’s Democratic central committee. Video from Woemmel’s interview is below.

One thing she also said was that no one has their head in the clouds; she doesn’t expect Obama to carry an area such as hers, but she hopes her ground troops can boost his numbers enough to help in the statewide fight.

Alas, technology also got the better of me, as I had taped a long conversation with Carol Littge, owner of a nice sports/pool bar, Pockets, who had some decent observations. Unfortunately, that tape was lost to dirt in the camera — it looks like Technicolor static on screen without any audio.

Still, Littge has fair claim to having her thumb on the working class pulse, as a barkeep who sets up shop across the street from a factory (the very same one that Obama spoke in).

Littge said Obama will lose points in a place like Cape G., considering his stance against the war. But Littge also thinks the economy is more important, and she seems to agree with Obama’s strategists. “I think McCain represents four more years of Bush.”

But let’s be honest. Obama has had the most trouble with rural voters in primarily white areas. So I asked her, will he come off sounding like an elitist from the city?

(I put up the disclaimer that I spent my formative years living in towns with populations ranging from 200 to 2,000 people.)

Littge said the answer will depend on his sales pitch. She figures some of her patrons might see him as some Ivy Leaguer that is out of touch. On the other hand, if he can really lay out just what he’ll do — Littge hasn’t heard that yet — then the Mr. Smarty Pants air about him could turn into Mr. Right Man For The Job.