As a Southerner, I can’t fathom why some of the North Eastern states are so enamored with the Democrats. Take Maine for instance, a mostly white state populated by “rugged individualists”. Why would they think a bunch of Socialists could possibly have good policies for the country?
I just don’t get it.
it is all about free stuff.
at some point the only free stuff left is free slave chains.
New England is in a post-Christian era. They’re primarily secular humanists up there and government is their god.
I grew up in MA... Here is my take on it as someone who LOVES the south, as the Father in Law says the stork dropped me off @ the wrong house after seeing me eat Collard Greens in NC...:-)
* A bit of elitism
* A product of what they read NYT's etc.
* It is a talk radio wasteland, I have to hunt the dial when I go back...
* The Dems for years ran their stealth candidates as Rino's on the R and destroyed the GOP from within.
* They have become so inculcated with their bureaucracy they are used to it and maneuver within it (especially zoning rules, don't even get me started on that one) rather than fire them all and start over.
* They like "living good" and don't want to get involved in politics, if so at a superficial level only.
* I think w/ the rise of southern competition going back 40 years, they lost a lot of jobs via their unionization and never recovered from it. Tangent to this, they lost generations of people that were part of making machines, tools, firearms etc many machinist and tool and die guys. It think at one point they were more part of the arsenal of democracy than they ever knew. It is all gone. Again they never recovered from it....
It’s all about public ssistance, there are no jobs in Maine.
Maybe because so many of them have been educated at the University of Maine, which officially encourages and defends the act of disrespecting the American flag.
I’ve lived in Maine for the last twenty years. The state is 98% white.
Southern Maine, which has the bulk of the population, is more liberal than the northern half of Maine. Southern Maine is fairly close to Massachusetts, and parts of Maine are within commutable distance to Boston. A number of Massachusetts residents have moved to Maine over the years, bringing their politics with them.
Also, Maine, especially the northern half of the state, is mostly rural. Historically, there has been a great deal of poverty in rural Maine....as poster Andy’s Mom said, no jobs. The poor tend to favorite government programs, and the politicians who promise more of these programs. The good news....the Second Amendment is very strong in this state. Hunting and firearm ownership is a way of life.
The GOP had some good results in 2010. We elected a TEA Party conservative, Paul LePage as governor....the small towns in northern Maine put him over the top. The GOP also won control of the Maine Senate and the Maine House, the first time that’s happened since the early 1960’s.
For what it’s worth, on a 10-mile stretch of road in the coastal area of Maine where I live, in the northeastern part of the state, I counted 18 Romney signs and 14 Obama signs. And one empty wooden chair with a golf club propped upon it in front of someone’s house.
Maine splits it’s electoral votes just like Nebraska, so I was hoping that northern Maine....the 2nd congressional district....would go for Romney....but I’ve only seen one Romney ad on TV so far. Maine only has a total of four electoral votes, so perhaps the Romney team is spending it’s resources on the battleground states....can’t say that I blame them.
I used to bristle and try to defend the north when Southerners ragged on it. I can't any more, as most criticisms leveled at the north are completely well-founded. The people up here are socialistic, idiotic moonbats.