Why is the upper Midwest shifting Republican?

[Mdcastle]

As for Minnesota, in years by there were some liberal stongholds- the iron range, the core cities, and the farming area, wheras the suburbs have always been conservative. In the 1980s free trade and the exhaustion of the iron deflated the range, and suburbs continued to grow while the inner cities stagnated. I'd speculate that maybe the farmers have become "Kansas Republicans".

[Dan Norder]

The poster most convinced Wisconsin has shifted drastically Republican seems to be a die-hard conservative engaging in wishful thinking. I just don't see a huge shift in Wisconsin. Sorry. It's not any different than it has been for decades.

Wisconsin is volatile politically and always has been. Before anyone tries to tell you that a conservative governor like Scott Walker is some sort of new development, remember that Tommy Thompson was firmly entrenched as governor for years, even while Wisconsin went for Dukakis for President. Losing a liberal stalwart like Feingold as senator is not some major shift when you consider that Sen. Joe McCarthy was from Wisconsin. The state is a land of political extremes: it's home to both the John Birch Society and Progressive magazine.

From the poll results I've seen Obama is leading Wisconsin and many Republican strategists already have all but written it off as unwinnable by Romney. Considering that lackluster economy usually predicts of a switch in the vote, for Obama to still be doing so well there shows that the GOP is in very serious trouble overall. If you aren't 5-10% points ahead leading up to your party's convention running as a challenger to an incumbent in a lean economy it's doubtful you have any serious chance at all.

[pkbites]

Originally Posted by Dan Norder

Losing a liberal stalwart like Feingold as senator is not some major shift when you consider that Sen. Joe McCarthy was from Wisconsin.

You're comparing an election from 2 years ago with one from almost 70 years ago?

[Omg a Black Conservative]

Originally Posted by Dan Norder

Considering that lackluster economy usually predicts of a switch in the vote, for Obama to still be doing so well there shows that the GOP is in very serious trouble overall.

Assuming, of course, the state in question isn't one of those states which consistently vote for a person of a specific party (in this case, Democrat) over a prolonged period of time.

[TheSlapIsBack]

Originally Posted by foolsguinea

Talk radio is powerful stuff. The Rwanda massacre was orchestrated through talk radio.

So long as we have, "absolute freedom of the press," we allow the Sean Hannity types to get on the air and stoke the fires of racism and the like. And the GOP have managed to exploit that so far, while most of the country sleeps.

Soooooo racism is the big issue in these states? That is really insightful and I have not heard that argument anywhere(sarc). Some evidence of racism being used(other than Bidens comments in Virginia please)
It could not have anything to do with the economy in general or maybe the fact that states typically leaning a little left in general dont care much for a president with policies that cannot be much further left.
Or try this one on- Scott Walker said what he was going to do- did it- it worked-so public opinion is shifting towards people with opposing ideas to the presidents

Naaaahhh you are definitly on to something. Racism. At least we know that is the primary go to play in the lefts playbook this election season. Come to think of it... It was last time around too. Remember? Bill and Hillary were racist in the primaries too.

Find a different argument or at least one that has some kind of truth backed by evidence dude

[TheSlapIsBack]

Originally Posted by foolsguinea

Talk radio is powerful stuff. The Rwanda massacre was orchestrated through talk radio.

So long as we have, "absolute freedom of the press," we allow the Sean Hannity types to get on the air and stoke the fires of racism and the like. And the GOP have managed to exploit that so far, while most of the country sleeps.

Oh and it was state-run radio that allowed hate speech in Rwanda. I would have to check but my educated guess is there was not free press there. Your radio claim falls apart because free press means if a show host is actually being racist or saying such repulsive things reasonable people could change to a different station. Not to mention advertisers would pull ads and bring the show down.

The only reason this hasnt happened is because claims of racism are totally unfounded and are simply lies

[Beware of Doug]

It might be interesting to debate the role of religious conservatism in leading people to political conservatism. In the heavily Protestant upper midwest (as in the USA as a whole), the mainstream denominations have lost membership to megachurches. These are somewhat more fundamentalist, but importantly, they're not so shy of applying moral and political pressure on the community.

Anecdote, my neighbors here in Iowa, both college-educated farm kids, used to be Presbyterians until a large chunk of their congregation walked out (and they followed). They were never very political or religious in public until joining the local Evangelical Free Church (not a mega, just an old-line bible-thumping denonination), which has either given them more pronounced opinions and/or the conviction to voice them.

Going further back, 9/11/01 created a lot of patriots nationwide and softened society up for a militarist mindset. And those who stayed the course despite two unpopular wars came out facing staunchly right.

[Tristan]

Originally Posted by TheSlapIsBack

Oh and it was state-run radio that allowed hate speech in Rwanda. I would have to check but my educated guess is there was not free press there. Your radio claim falls apart because free press means if a show host is actually being racist or saying such repulsive things reasonable people could change to a different station. Not to mention advertisers would pull ads and bring the show down.

The only reason this hasnt happened is because claims of racism are totally unfounded and are simply lies

Balony. If you would like, I will dig up cites on at least Rush's racist remarks, because they are most certainly out there. And I'm not talking about his Black Quarterback moments...

Rush is borderline racist, Glenn Beck, while not racist, is incredibly focused on making sure "his side" knows the other side is evil, genuinely evil and out to destroy the country, Savage is a borderline fascist, Quinn and Rose (our locals, but I guess they are syndicated) walk right up to the edge of outright race baiting every time I have them on the radio.

[Dan Norder]

Originally Posted by Omg a Black Conservative

Assuming, of course, the state in question isn't one of those states which consistently vote for a person of a specific party (in this case, Democrat) over a prolonged period of time.

Which, in this case, is not true, as anyone paying attention to the discussion here and the actual voting history would already know.

[Dan Norder]

Originally Posted by pkbites

You're comparing an election from 2 years ago with one from almost 70 years ago?

I was comparing the state's actual voting history to the one some modern conservatives cooked up as some sort of alternate political reality so they can claim a great shift in voting patterns that does not actually exist. But since you can't actually refute the facts you picked out one sentence out of context and ignored the rest so you could still pretend to know what you are talking about. But then what else is new?

[Omg a Black Conservative]

Originally Posted by Dan Norder

Which, in this case, is not true, as anyone paying attention to the discussion here and the actual voting history would already know.

How isn't it true? That's like saying that because Obama is going to win California amid a lackluster economy, it shows the GOP is in "real trouble" overall. Such an argument, if you can call it that, ignores how a state has voted historically in presidential elections. Some states will go to one party (very nearly) no matter what.