If you get up in what they call the Northeast Kingdom of VT there are actually a lot of conservatives. Especially the family farmers. They will have signs on their barns that say: Take Back VT.
Most people do not realize that Vt was actually a conservative state until all the Ben & Jerry(hippies) types moved in from NYC in the 60’s & 70’s.
The problem was that the liberals in the Burlington started out voting the rural working people. Burlington is another college town. UVM is there. My son was offered a PHD position there. Everyone there is a hippie. A Long haired, bearded, pot smoking dope. My son passed on going to school there. Actually, he passed on getting a PHD altogether. He was also offered a PHD at GATech. Got a job instead.
VT is also a poor state. The biggest part of their economy is tourism. Ski areas and bed and breakfasts. Up until about 10 years ago there were more cows in VT than people.
So, the liberals took over. They promised all the poor people socialist pie in the sky ideas and the poor people voted for them.
The only conservatives in the state that are left are the family farmers and the bed & breakfast owners. Which are almost all ex NYC Wall street types. They all have the same story: I used to be a trader on Wall Street. I did that rat race for X years. Now I make pancakes.
I know. It is kind of sad, though...you see the old decrepit faded gray barns with the weathered “Take Back VT” slogan.
We did have a great experience on trip up there last year. My wife and I were up there for some reason or another, and we wanted to go to the Cabot Cheese facility and take a tour. (we took the tour years ago, and it was great!)
However, due to state regulations, they were forced by the state to discontinue tours. So, we watched a little movie, went through the store, and that was it.
We decided to have lunch in town, but to be honest, Cabot, VT is a one horse town. Not a lot of options.
We saw a hardware store that had a counter with probably five stools, but after sitting there, they didn’t really serve food. The guy pointed his finger towards the back of the store and indicated we had to go back there. So back we went, in between the toilet repair parts and other meager plumbing supplies, until we came to a small room maybe 20 feet square at the most with four or five tables and a counter at one side with an old stove and other stuff behind the counter...run by a woman I’ll call “Millie”, who was in her late Sixties.
We ordered sandwiches, and began chatting with her. We ended up shooting the breeze with her for about an hour and a half (because nobody else was coming in) and it was great.
I come from a blue state, and Vermont is very blue too, but...in our conversation, she was evidently VERY conservative, and I felt right at home with her! She was obviously a townie and somewhat central to the heart of the town, because a woman came in to talk with her, and it was clear she was the source of advice for interpersonal relationships by many people, and dispensed very personal “Dear Abby” advice in a very public place in front of strangers, and nobody batted an eye...:)
And she loved talking with us...I suspect there were many Lefties and Libs she had to deal with all the time!
Loved it. Gave me hope. Conservatism lives!