What fustrates me is there doesnt seem to be anything that will stop this trend. Anyone who understands history and politics will see that the higher percentage of the population that is economically displaced. the higher the possibility that they will vote for those who promose to protect their standard of living. Now this may have been counter acted in the past when those in the professional classes tended to be Conservative, but that is not true anymore, as examples I have given in my previous post.
Another example is the state of IL. The GOP strongholds of the Chicago suburbs that used to give upwards of 70% of the vote to GOP canidates are now barely give over 50% to statewide GOP canidates. These people have been greatly helped by tax cuts, and their cost of goods have been held down by outsourcing of jobs and the importation of cheap labor, but they are not moving any further towrds the GOP because they vote mainly on issues of being "pro choice" the enviroment, and other "soccer mom" issues.
The working class but socially conservative voters who are in parts of the Chicago area and in downstate IL would be fertile territory to pick up votes, but the economic policies, and to be sure these policies started during the Clinton admin under Robert Rubin, have been continued and have shoved these voters towrds more marginal economic territory, and as this happens, not only do they not move towrds the GOP, but because of economic stress, they move towrds the Democrats.
The new Result, IL is out of reach for the GOP, where before 96, it was a swing state that had a slight GOP lean.
and that trend you mention in IL and NJ - what the folks posting about how "things are better in AZ and NC" don't realize is - its coming to where you live also. there is no escaping from it, you can hide for a few years in North Carolina and Georgia, but the same trends from IL and NJ - are coming. Just give it a few years. The suburbs will grow, demand for services will rise, taxes will rise, and the demographics will create Democratic states there.