Report: Urban issues take back burner

WASHINGTON, March 27 (UPI) -- U.S. urban issues are getting short shrift in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination, political analysts say.

The Politico reported that at the start of the Democratic presidential campaign, activists hope for a discussion on issues of particular interest for the nation's urban centers, especially since Hillary Clinton represents New York City and Barack Obama is a former community organizer in Chicago.

Rather than tackling urban issues, Politico reported that the candidates are instead confronting rural issues.

On Obama's campaign Web site, an urban plan is buried in the poverty section, while Clinton added a section only Tuesday on her urban "vision," Politico said.

"Cities are reliably Democratic, so it is not really a territory that needs to be fought over," said Andrea Batista Schlesinger, executive director of the Drum Major Institute for Public Policy, a left-leaning think tank. "Why align yourself when pollsters tell you this is about suburban voters?"

Bruce Katz, director of the Metropolitan Policy Program at the Brookings Institution, said attention to urban issues comes in "dribs and drabs."

"They may talk infrastructure one day and talk about human capital on another," he said. "They are not talking about it in tandem or as a roadmap."