Why some states solid red and why some solid blue?

[KrisHawkXXX]

I mean why are some states just solid red and some solid blue? What pushes an entire state to go for one presidential candidate such as Obama.. McCain, McKinney.... etc.

 

[pallenk]

Re: Why some states solid red and why some solid b

just because a majority feels one way, doesn't mean the whole state. and by majority we could be talking 51% to 49%. this reminds me of the time i spent in Brazil a few years ago. everyone wanted to talk politics. and asked why the American's voted for Bush. and why i put him in office. and actually i had to explain that at the time, the majority of American's did not put him in office. and there were many people who did not agree with him or his politics. me being one of them. so, i don't think there are any places that are 100% anything.

 

[TheTalkingAsshole]

Re: Why some states solid red and why some solid b

I mean why are some states just solid red and some solid blue? What pushes an entire state to go for one presidential candidate such as Obama.. McCain, McKinney.... etc.

The Electoral College (I don't want to hear about Maine and Nebraska). Next question?

And did you really need to give examples of what a presidential candidate is? And what states did McKinney win? Please refresh my memory

 

[letme]

Re: Why some states solid red and why some solid b

Ummm I do not know..... Maybe cuz some States still have stars & bars on their flag ?

Is that the answer you were hoping for? Ya know how them Southern Red-Necks can be.... they are Solid as a Rock.

Ya can't vote blue if you are rednecked.

 

[Homoerectus]

Re: Why some states solid red and why some solid b

Letme, please do a little research and you will learn the South was so solidly Democratic from 1880 until 1964 it was called the Solid South. The Democratic party supported segregation in the South. It wasn't until the Great Society years that the South began to vote GOP.

 

[Kurn]

Re: Why some states solid red and why some solid b

Madonna, Mr. Obama gives a good lesson to keep in mind about all this in his book, Audacity of Hope. He says, paraphrasing, that more than 90% of the time, a 'red-district' is 60-40 red-blue, and a blue-district is 60-40 blue-red.

But why the impression of redness, blueness, and why do they stay that way for long periods??
Well, a red-state like Oklahoma might stay red because of cultural views and also the fact that immigration does little to alter the economic cycles of nature and habit which serve to insulate cultures from change.

Same thing about Illinois, I reckon. Rural counties change. But not in ways that cause people to change various social and political habits.

In November 2008, any solid changeover for Obama probably had something to do with perceived Competence.
Enough voters in 8 years had learned what damage incompetence could do and were sensitized to the issue.
This blends into another big factor, voter maturation. Recent history tells enough voters what's better, voters who, literally, have gotten wiser since they were 18, and voilá.

 

[TheTalkingAsshole]

Re: Why some states solid red and why some solid b

Madonna, Mr. Obama gives a good lesson to keep in mind about all this in his book, Audacity of Hope. He says, paraphrasing, that more than 90% of the time, a 'red-district' is 60-40 red-blue, and a blue-district is 60-40 blue-red.

But why the impression of redness, blueness, and why do they stay that way for long periods??
Well, a red-state like Oklahoma might stay red because of cultural views and also the fact that immigration does little to alter the economic cycles of nature and habit which serve to insulate cultures from change.

Same thing about Illinois, I reckon. Rural counties change. But not in ways that cause people to change various social and political habits.

Kurn, please refer to this thread http://www.justusboys.com/forum/showthread.php?t=250830 and abide accordingly. Hopefully you won't need any further re-eduction.

 

[MystikWizard]

Re: Why some states solid red and why some solid b

I mean why are some states just solid red and some solid blue? What pushes an entire state to go for one presidential candidate such as Obama.. McCain, McKinney.... etc.

A combination of factors.

Primarily, in my opinion:

1) Education
2) One's upbringing
3) Household income

 

[jj1087]

Re: Why some states solid red and why some solid b

The Electoral College (I don't want to hear about Maine and Nebraska). Next question?

Lol I think I read that Nebraska is going back to strickly majority after the "folley" of having to give Obama a vote.

I live in a state, Tennessee, that outsiders would call red; but it's not that simple.

Arkansas is similar. Our two senators are both democrats, 3/4 of our house reps are democrats, governor is democrat, and democrats contol the state legislature. None of the groups are THAT liberal, but at the same time, they're not republican. Yet we've been solidly red (although with the obvious exception of Clinton) for last several elections for presidents and got even more red (1 of only 2 or 3 states to do so) during this last election.

 

[TX-Beau]

Re: Why some states solid red and why some solid b

The farther off the coast you get in CA the freakier the resemblance to Texas. There are just a hell of a lot more people on the coast. Massachusetts may be more homogeneous politically, I don't know enough about it to say one way or the other.

Even here in TX, the majority is gonna shift depending on where you are. Austin is Blue, Midland/Odessa is not.

 

[CoolBlue71]

Re: Why some states solid red and why some solid b

I was into a thread from a few months back on 15 states to observe during the election season, and how the vote might turn out.

I observed that the following 11 states voted Republican for 10 straight elections (1968-2004): Alaska, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Utah, Virginia, and Wyoming.

Now that the 10-cycle period has dropped 1968 and has picked up with 1972 as its beginning … and 2008 the end … Indiana and Virginia, won by Barack Obama in Election 2008, are dropped from that list. (And Obama shaved one electoral vote from John McCain in Nebraska!)

The following states are routinely Democratic over the past 10 elections (1972-2008): Hawaii and Rhode Island (identical record; Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan, in 1972 and 1984, respectively won them due in part to unviable Democratic challengers); Massachusetts (won by Reagan when he collapsed Democratic strongholds in both of his elections but generally Mass. is considered the "bluest" state in the union); Minnesota (never won by Reagan because of Mondale as Jimmy Carter's v.p. and Mondale's bid for the presidency … it did vote for Nixon in 1972); New York and Wisconsin (identical record; part of the Nixon and Reagan 49-state victories, N.Y. and Wisc. were also "red" for a 1980 Reagan). And we must add our nation's capital, District of Columbia, Democratic in every election since it first voted in 1964.

As for the rest of the "divide," well The South became really red with Reagan … but Lyndon Johnson signing in the Civil Rights Act of 1964 set that in motion. Before that it was Democratic while many of today's Democratic states voted Republican.

Presidential elections really get determined by the battlegrounds, the swing states, the bellwether states. So I don't believe in the "red states/blue states" phenom. And when it comes to why some states are "locked" in to one color, or one party, it has to do primarily with backgrounds … of the states themselves and the voters themselves. (I don't believe too many find that to be … surprising.)

 

[CoolBlue71]

Re: Why some states solid red and why some solid b

The parties in power go on a corrupt gerrymandering spree every 10 years to carve out the districts in their favor.

Sometimes the parties eat themselves alive … and leaves some "correcting" by the voters who deal with exactly what you're addressing. Look at Florida as an example, and how the voters handled then-Rep. Tom Feeney (R) in Election 2008.

By the way, I was talking presidential level. But your point isn't lost on me!

 

[jaxon29]

Re: Why some states solid red and why some solid b

My state, Oklahoma, is a bit puzzling. The state has voted red in the Presidential election for the past 40 years. Yet on the state level we've had both Rep and Dem governors, probably more Dem and until two years ago, the state legislature had always been Dem majority, never Rep. Now both houses have a Rep majority and not one single county went for Obama.

 

[Lostlover]

Re: Why some states solid red and why some solid b

I mean why are some states just solid red and some solid blue? What pushes an entire state to go for one presidential candidate such as Obama.. McCain, McKinney.... etc.

Well I know the Southwest (New Mexico and Colorado) turned blue primarily due to demographic changes.

 

[construct]

Re: Why some states solid red and why some solid b

I was into a thread from a few months back on 15 states to observe during the election season, and how the vote might turn out.

I observed that the following 11 states voted Republican for 10 straight elections (1968-2004): Alaska, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Utah, Virginia, and Wyoming.

Now that the 10-cycle period has dropped 1968 and has picked up with 1972 as its beginning … and 2008 the end … Indiana and Virginia, won by Barack Obama in Election 2008, are dropped from that list. (And Obama shaved one electoral vote from John McCain in Nebraska!)

The following states are routinely Democratic over the past 10 elections (1972-2008): Hawaii and Rhode Island (identical record; Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan, in 1972 and 1984, respectively won them due in part to unviable Democratic challengers); Massachusetts (won by Reagan when he collapsed Democratic strongholds in both of his elections but generally Mass. is considered the "bluest" state in the union); Minnesota (never won by Reagan because of Mondale as Jimmy Carter's v.p. and Mondale's bid for the presidency … it did vote for Nixon in 1972); New York and Wisconsin (identical record; part of the Nixon and Reagan 49-state victories, N.Y. and Wisc. were also "red" for a 1980 Reagan). And we must add our nation's capital, District of Columbia, Democratic in every election since it first voted in 1964.

As for the rest of the "divide," well The South became really red with Reagan … but Lyndon Johnson signing in the Civil Rights Act of 1964 set that in motion. Before that it was Democratic while many of today's Democratic states voted Republican.

Presidential elections really get determined by the battlegrounds, the swing states, the bellwether states. So I don't believe in the "red states/blue states" phenom. And when it comes to why some states are "locked" in to one color, or one party, it has to do primarily with backgrounds … of the states themselves and the voters themselves. (I don't believe too many find that to be … surprising.)

Okay, let's take your ten election indicator (and we'll count only the at-large electors in Nebraska). Now let's look at the map. Alaska, the northern mountain states (Idaho, Utah, Wyoming), the plains states (North and South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma), and the District of Columbia are the only states that meet the standard.

I would notice that these states are extremely homogeneous demographically when compared with the other states. I see that as the decisive factor.

 

[Sammie13]

Re: Why some states solid red and why some solid b

Education.

The Repugnuts have embraced the stupid, undereducated, faux x-tian, poor morons to further their cause.

I find that statement to be utterly false and a fantasy that some liberals use to justify their own ideology. In fact, most successful, high income people who aren't lawyers, professors, or entertainers, are in fact Republicans. The GOP's bread and butter are the upper and upper middle class who didn't get to that level of wealth by being uneducated. The 'lower taxes' drum beat from the GOP is not an appeal to 'stupid, poor morons' who would barely being paying taxes anyway, but rather an appeal to the high-end.

In fact, I find it's the lower class that votes Dem because they love all the entitlements that the liberals hand out and re-distribute.

 

[Sammie13]

Re: Why some states solid red and why some solid b

A combination of factors.

Primarily, in my opinion:

1) Education
2) One's upbringing
3) Household income

On top of that, Midnight, I would add religion; in the South, it's like a requirement that Baptists and other protestants support Republicans. Many churches are extremely politically active. I've seen many Dems quickly become Repubs when they "found God."

Another factor in the red/blue leanings is rural vs urban. Each has their own special needs. Even in state politics and state taxes, it can be very frustrating to people in the rural areas of a state to see most of the state funding using your monies going to projects in the state's urban areas where you may get no return on your tax investment.

 

[naked gent]

Re: Why some states solid red and why some solid b

A combination of factors.

Primarily, in my opinion:

1) Education
2) One's upbringing
3) Household income

On top of that, Midnight,
Another factor in the red/blue leanings is rural vs urban.

To those I would add that, as far as the south is concerned, the different way it has historically developed economically as opposed to the north.

The south has more natural resources than the north and each region developed as one crop region whether that crop was cotton or tobacco or rice. The north was not so kindly blessed and was forced to develop a variety of industries from manufacturing to finance and fishing along with farming.

One business areas tend to be less diverse and less open to new ideas because there is no necessity for them and so they become insular whereas areas which have different businesses and as a consequence interests are open to new ideas and different influences as a matter of survival.

While this is not as true as it used to be that past still influences the cultural thinking in the south and, in an opposite way, the north.

 

[naked gent]

Re: Why some states solid red and why some solid b

Well here in the Northeast it is rock solid Democratic. Even most rich people around where I live are too. We just have a sense of moral justice, for the poor and for gay rights that Republicans don't value.

And you could have added that the northeast, the most liberal part of the country, is wealthier than the south which is one of the more conservative parts of the country.

 

[TX-Beau]

Re: Why some states solid red and why some solid b

"Family Values" is just code for Religious Right.