A historic American divide remains: Urban vs. Rural

For all the political divides in America -- male-female, black-white, and all the rest -- one of the oldest remains one of the most persistent: Urban vs. rural.

The different outlooks of city dwellers and country folks show up again on three modern issues that are dominating the headlines, according to NBC News/Wall Street Journal polling data: Gay marriage, free trade, and President Obama's health care law.

Most city residents -- 62% -- supported the Supreme Court decision affirming gay marriage; a plurality of rural residents -- 47% -- opposed it.

As Congress cleared the way last week for a major trade agreement with Asia, 50% of rural residents believe free trade has hurt the United States, NBC reports -- only 27% or urban residents feel likewise.

Health care? Among city folks, 57% believe the new health care law -- essentially upheld last week by the Supreme Court -- is working well; among rural residents, 63% want the law overhauled or eliminated.

The ongoing urban-rural divide is also reflected the political parties, NBC News notes:

"Bottom line: New York City, Chicago, and Los Angeles were thrilled by last week's news; Jamestown, NY; Litchfield, IL; and Redding, CA probably weren't as much.

"Given this divide, we're going to see a political backlash, especially on the Supreme Court's gay-marriage and health-care rulings. And it's going to play out inside the GOP since the Republican Party has largely become the party of rural America.

"Indeed, the same NBC/WSJ poll finds 55% of urban respondents identifying as Democrats, versus just 31% of rural respondents who are Dems."