The South Is Not The Only Reliable Area For The Republicans In

presidential politics.

How about the Mountain West?


How about the rural mid west?


How about Alaska?

The South gets bashed for supporting Bush but here's a list of non-southern states that haven't voted Democrat at the presidential level in nearly forty years

Alaska

Idaho

Indiana

Kansas

Nebraska

Montana

North Dakota

South Dakota

Utah

Wyoming


They don't get bashed because they don't have many Electoral Votes.

Don't hate the playa

Hate the game

for their think tanks and the money they funnel down at the community level to manipulate language.

Red through this site.

Notice how they have divided and tackled issues legal, political and cultural.

Notice how their contributions at the academic level have been targetted at CREATING facts or distorting them rather than clarifying them.


http://www.mediatransparency.org/

I have spent some time here defending Kansas, Kansans and rural people in general. We libs are out there and doing our damndest to change things and it simply does not help to get people in areas all defensive, especially Repubs. Many are being won over as we speak and the worst thing they could hear is bad stuff about them or their state. They tend to be quite loyal due to a dependency on each other and quite contentious due to their independence. Makes little sense to those who do not know about this kind of life but it is the way it is for a reason. Lay off them and hopefully they can be won over. Nobody likes to be pissed on.

Anyway, thanks.

That's great.

unusual. I think this state likes balance. Most everyone else is Repub. Of course she was running against a real winger and I don't think people here really want that either.

and Bob Dole was the catalyst for the Food Stamp program.

currently in office even make Nixon look good. Just kidding, of course, but he certainly seems like a light weight in comparison.

Just seems a little bit out of the ordinary not to have the regulars here.

is a discussion and not a bashing thread. It is actually nice to be able to dicuss these things. Much of what has been said is true even though it hurts. It never will get solved by bashing people though. Only by discussion and understanding can we ever come up with a real, workable plan. I am preaching to the choir here I think. Thanks all.

states like TX, GA, SC, NC, FL*,VA, AL, MI that rarely go Dem and you can see how large the problem really is.






*Even if we won FL in 00 it went R in 80, 84, 88, and 92. If FL is a swing state it is the most Republican leaning swing state besides Ohio.


We have our work cut out.

The problem is pretty straight forward.

How do we reach beyond our base without compromisising our principles or how do we come up with a center left program that is acceptable to the largest amount of the population as possible.

Until that question is answered we will be in the political wilderness.

As an aside alot of folks say the Democrats will be saved by changing demographics since African Americans, Hispanics, and Asians lean Democratic. The danger is these groups can be co opted.

Michigan is a marginally Democratic state IMHO.

-:)

Michigan I think has gone Dem since Dukakis

many of the states listed here a centrist might be acceptable. I myself lean way over on the left but a centrist dem is far preferable to any repub. I have found myself wondering if Dean would be acceptable here. I think he just might be. I think a good many folks around these parts just do not trust Bush* anymore and this might be the time to see the swing begin.

even though it has a minority of U.S. voters, is singlehandedly responsible for Republican dominance of the federal government.

Surely it cannot be that large numbers of people in other parts of the country are voting GOP. We know it cannot be that, so there must be some other reason.

:(.. it's weighted in favor of the less populous states.. which really stinks because the majority of the TAXPAYING people are NOT living there, yet those states have a larger say in how that money gets raised and spent..:(

One person...one vote...popular vote only.. More people would vote if not for the ec.. Thats why the repubes would never allow it to "go away"

In fact the states where * got 60+% were:

Wyoming 69%-28%
Utah 67%-26%
Idaho 67%-28%
Nebraska 62%-33%
North Dakota 61%-33%
Oklahoma 60%-38%
South Dakota 60%-38%

only one of which (OK) is in the South, and even OK is on the border between the South and Midwest IMHO.

and that if you just say leave gun laws to the states, it'll fix everything in the mountain and rural states.

Well it's not, it's mostly about JOBS. They see environmental regulation as choking out their economy. Farming, ranching, logging, mining, and yes, oil and gas drilling. While people in these states are concerned about the environment too, they also know they need jobs. There is probably nothing more annoying to a Montana logger than to see millions of acres of trees just sitting there while you're unemployed. Especially when they know environmentalists live in houses made of wood, etc., etc. Or a farmer who wonders if people really know where their food comes from.

Guns, traditional values, local control and unfunded mandates also play a part in their decisions to vote for a Republican President because all of the kinds of regulations they hate the most come from the federal level.

But it's still mostly jobs.

younger farmers have been initiating farming methods that are more environmentally friendly. I have seen it begin and have seen skeptics won over. That map is VERY scary and that map should be the issue maker for the candidates. Whoever it is needs to understand these folks and be prepared to explain the benefits of doing things a different way, offer them support etc. Jobs Jobs Jobs and the understanding of how some of these jobs work. Remember how Clinton blew away Bush1 by knowing things the regular people knew and Mr. MoneyBags did not? Carter was also that way.

And about farmers and ranchers, most of them have always taken pains to care for their land as best as the knowledge available would allow. The disrespect from an 18 year old kid has got to be annoying to somebody who has spent 40 years making sure special areas of his land remained safe for birds and wildlife. And after he's done that, he's told more land can't be used because of a bug of some sort; must really send them right over the edge.

I really had high hopes for John Edwards just because of this; but that campaign has got to get energized. He needs to be the candidate of youth and optimism, maybe some sort of 50's music and feel while he talks about every day values. Sort of rock the house in a way that people don't relate to Hollywood. Something, I really want the guy to get going!

It's traditional versus secular values.

I also believe it's possible to embrace traditional values while also embracing non-traditional values.

Got to love that electoral college

I've seen it broken down by county and it's worse.

As we know from the Clinton elections some states are more competetive....

Perish The thought the Bush-Dukakis map represents the Democratic presidential base.













on edit I would add CA, WA, and OR to the Bush-Dukakis map

scratch it from your list

just a correction

Thanks...

Montana won by a Dem at the national level....


Wow.......

there are a couple very liberal college towns, and many union workers who still vote Democratic. I believe the state actually was solidly Democratic until the 70's, and Burns is the first Republican senator in a very long time.