The Dems have a stranglehold on state government, and our taxes are highest in the region.
I plan to move at my earliest opportunity.
In my judgment, you are either overly pessimistic, or too impatient; possibly both.
Look at the progress we've made in recent years. A majority of our Congressional delegation is Republican, and there's not a "RINO" among 'em. We have a better-than-even chance of electing our second Republican Senator next year, and we have close to a 50/50 chance of winning the Governor's chair (maybe the lady who began this thread, in fact).
And, critically, we're in striking distance of taking both chambers of the General Assembly. We're close now, but as you know, "close" means little in politics. But if we get over the hump in 2004, we'll likely stay there. There remain a lot of conservatives who vote Democratic at the local levels, because they want to be operating within the majority party. But once the Democrats lose their majority (and they are living on borrowed time now, and know it), a massive momentum shift will occur. Look at South Carolina. Once the GOP gained control of the State Assembly, a near-sweep of the Council of State races ensued. Look, for that matter, at Union County, North Carolina. Once the Dems lost their hold on the County Commission, it was over; they immediately ceased to be even competitive.
I'm a North Carolina native, and I'm old enough to remember when the only significant concentrations of Republicans were in the mountains and in upper-income suburban areas of our larger cities -- not even close to forming the basis of a statewide majority. We are close now. Increasingly, Bubba is voting Republican, and once he sees that a GOP majority is at hand, he'll stay.