Here is a map of the congressional districts of the 114th Congress. Most of the blue areas are easy to explain; coastal cities with lots of liberal elitists, welfare recipients, and well-oiled union machines, and lots of districts in the southwest with a lot of illegal immigrants.
But seriously, what’s the deal with Minnesota?
I mean, you re-elected Stuart Smalley for Set’s sake.
In a lot of smaller cities and towns, the biggest source of employment is the local school district. Anecdote: an old high school acquaintance of mine was a very conservative Mormon. (I assume he still is though I haven’t asked him.) He lives in one of the most conservative areas of Washington State. Pro-life, pro-gun, etc. Yet he votes regularly for the Democratic Party. Why? He’s a high school Spanish teacher making $63K in a very rural area where the cost of living is far lower than the state average. He’s a union representative and negotiator with the local school board. While not living high-on-the-hog, he’s certainly much more comfortable than many of his neighbors. He votes his paycheck, damn the country.
It should be noted that while MN reelected assfraud, the GOP picked up a majority in the State House so the Dems did suffer some defeats there.
Look at it this way: in the minority, Franken will be comedy gold!
The “liberal” Left party in Minnesota is the 19th-century progressive-socialist Farm Labor party — not the urban Democratic Party — which still has a nostalgic hold on the agrarian communities of Scandinavians, Czechs and Christian-Democrat Germans.
And with the exception of some annoyingly socially-regressive Hmong and Ethiopian of recent immigration, they don’t have the urban self-aggrieved underclasses — that traditional bastions of the modern Democratic Party.
“…then the end of the Roman republic was at hand, and nothing could save it. The laws were the same as they had been, but the people behind the laws had changed, and so the laws counted for nothing.” -Theodore Roosevelt, 1911
When people vote for their own benefit, and not the benefit of the country as a whole, it’s easy for a statist to waltz up to a podium, spout some populist adages, and get swept into office. Because when people are just worried about themselves, it’s easy to ignore that voice in your head that wonders if the nice politician was telling the truth.
I live in MN, and it seems like everyone here just assumes that any normal sane person is liberal. At work, church, or in a social setting, when people talk they assume everyone in the room is liberal, and they often say very hateful things about conservatives. They seem to think that they would be able to spot a conservative by their horns or something. At work, I let people know I’m gay, but I would never reveal that I’m conservative.
I lived in northern MN for two years, during which time I was introduced to the radically liberal viewpoints of most of the people I encountered. Having never lived among libs and not particularly political at that time, I was immediately dumbstruck by how virulent that liberal mindset was. Didn’t even know at the time I was conservative, but quickly found out by the vindictive hate I received whenever I voiced an opinion that wasn’t in lockstep with those around me. And mind you, these were never political discussions, just everyday things that covertly reveal the way in which people view things. It was truly disturbing and the hate progressed to the point I was receiving threats ~ SIMPLY BECAUSE I THOUGHT DIFFERENTLY. It was with great relief when opportunity arose that enabled me to move out of that state. My takeaway is that friendly, church-going, farmer façade is just a mask for a seething, government-dependent, hate-filled liberal.
Let me guess, Minnesota Scorpio, were you to open your mouth in opposition to their opinions, YOU get painted like you started the argument. THEY didn’t bring politics into it, oh, no.
I’ve dealt with that attitude before. Liberals have NO idea how to handle decent except to silence it.
PLEASE…..They also elected Jesse Ventura for Governor a few years back. There is something seriously wrong with them!!
Craig Smith and MN escapee, you’re completely correct. just by disagreeing with them, you’re considered evil. I even attended a funeral once, of a sweet (I thought) old woman, whose kids got up to one by one to eulogize her. They all praised her for her hatred of Republicans. One of the quoted her as saying “If Jesus came back to day and ran for President as a Republican, I’d vote against him”. They thought her hatred was admirable!
Leftists have been dumping somoli “refugees” in MN and they even let them take translators into the voting booth but don’t verify citizenship. They are brought to the US on taxpayer’s expense and put on more welfare programs than citizens can get. MN is one of the worse areas of 3rdworld refugees.
http://refugeeresettlementwatch.wordpress.com/?s=minnesota
The large swath of blue in New Mexico and Arizona are Indian Reservations I think.
Apparently St. Olaf, MN is not an anomaly.
Heck, they didn’t even vote for Reagan in 1984.
Part of it is generational, too. I’ve lived in MN most of my life — I’ve heard people actually say they vote DFL because their parents/grandparents did.
The 1st and 7th CD’s have had R representation in the past; I think it’s pretty safe to assume that the 7th will flip when Peterson retires. I’m also happy to see that the R’s will continue to be quasi-competitive in the 8th district. I’m from that part of the state and I was elated to see Oberstar lose in 2010.
Keep in mind that in northeastern MN, people vote DFL as mining was the big industry and the unions were helpful before WWII. Gus Hall, the communist was also raised there. I’m told by family that you have to be stupid to vote Republican; you don’t get the same benefits from the free market as you do from unions but no recognition that taxpayers are screwed. It used to be that working for the gov’t meant you made a little less money but were more secure. Now it means both; I know a social worker who was outraged a few years ago when there were wage freezes which were intended to avoid layoffs. She feels entitled to both high wages and security and doesn’t understand that it’s supposed to be a tradeoff.
People do just assume that everyone is as rabidly liberal as they are; they have nothing good to say about conservatives and are very open with their negativity. MN Scorpio is right; they’re fine with gays but conservative cancels it out so would create problems!