# Hey, Progressives and Liberals, Let's Pick Out A State To Take Over, Like Mississippi!
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-progressives-and-liberals-lets-pick-out-a-state-to-take-over-like-mississippi/649318
**Category:** Great Debates
**Created:** [February 4, 2013, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-progressives-and-liberals-lets-pick-out-a-state-to-take-over-like-mississippi/649318 "2013-02-04T16:51:38Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 5
### Author:  [@rogerbox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rogerbox)
#### Post date: [February 6, 2013, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-progressives-and-liberals-lets-pick-out-a-state-to-take-over-like-mississippi/649318/81 "2013-02-06T03:06:42Z")
> [@ITR\_champion](#):
>
> To me it seems more likely that Obama and Congressional Democrats continue the War on Drugs in order to keep liberals happy.
What?? š
---
### Author:  [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)
#### Post date: [February 6, 2013, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-progressives-and-liberals-lets-pick-out-a-state-to-take-over-like-mississippi/649318/82 "2013-02-06T04:09:05Z")
Yāall are cordially invited to Tennessee ā which I think would be idea for a first run.
The state is divided into three sections by the Tennessee River.
West Tennessee is already blue. No need to settle there.
Middle Tennessee is a mixture. Nashville is a fun place to live. There is lots of diversity, the state capital is here (and desperately needs reforming), yet Nashville , in general is liberal. We supported Obama both times. There are lots of caves and woods nearby for those who are so inclined. The concerts offer so much of a variety of entertainment that everyone has plenty to relax to. Vanderbilt is one of the great training centers for progressive education. And counties which arenāt as progressive are nearby.
East Tennessee is most in need of help ā and yet they have some of the prettiest places to live. Lots of hills and mountains with snow when you want to ski. (That may be changing a little with the climate becoming warmer.) Chattanooga is beautiful and great for history buffs. But East Tennessee seems to go red every time. There is good SEC football at UT in Knoxville The dunes of the Outer Banks in N.C. arenāt out of reach and Ashville N.C., a haven for artists and writers, is over the mountains (all for entertainment purposes). But there are plenty of **intelligent** people ready for conversion. We can start with U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander and U.S. Senator Bob Corker and the Governor of the state. All are conservatives. Some are intelligent. Any could be replaced with former Governor Phil Bredesen or Harold Ford for starters.
Yāall come!
---
### Author:  [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)
#### Post date: [February 6, 2013, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-progressives-and-liberals-lets-pick-out-a-state-to-take-over-like-mississippi/649318/83 "2013-02-06T04:11:20Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#):
>
> You have obviously never experienced the enjoyment of embodying the worst stereotypes of liberals with a straight face when talking to conservatives. I do it all the time with my family.
>
> āI hope Obama raises dadās taxes so he can use the money for slavery reparationsā
>
> āIf we made guns illegal with a 1 strike and youāre out policy, I bet 80% of crime would go awayā
>
> Sometimes I just make facts up, that is fun too. āAccording to the wall street journal the stimulus created 9 million jobsā or āeven Romneyās former campaign manager admitted on face the nation that Obamaās economic policy was betterā.
>
> Not here mind you, because I know making up facts isnāt kosher here.
Bet a Disneybuck, if I had one, that none of your family has ever caught you out on any of those lies with a basic, easy, 10-seconds-of-Googling fact-check. 'Cause, the RW canāt be beholden to fact-checkers.
---
### Author:  [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)
#### Post date: [February 6, 2013, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-progressives-and-liberals-lets-pick-out-a-state-to-take-over-like-mississippi/649318/84 "2013-02-06T04:30:46Z")
> [@Evil\_Captor](#):
>
> Fun concept. Itās occurred to me with all the marijuana legalization and anti-abortion initiatives, that what makes a real difference in living conditions might just be the state you live in, rather than the nation you live in. Perhaps if liberals and progressives were to move to a state en masse we could swing enough political power to take over the state legislature and run things our way. A good, progressive, well funded public school system, pot legalized, same sex marriage legalized, universal health care, all sorts of good things.
>
> I have some candidates for states to take over which may surprise you:
>
> 1. Mississippi
> 2. California
> 3. Alabama
> 4. Connecticut
>
> Iāll explain my reasoning in more detail later. But briefly, Mississippi and Alabama, though very conservative, have low population densities and a large working poor population that may be turned progressive with social programs that actually, you know, help them. California and Connecticut are both halfway to being progressive and a large influx of progressives may turn the states entirely progressive.
>
> And there are some very low density Western states like Montana and Idaho that I rejected offhand because they are too fricking cold and inhospitable, but with global warming ā¦ that may change. Wonder if there are any good projections along those lines?
>
> Whaddya think? Shall we send out the word, āprogressives go here!ā I know elucidator might be glad to move to some place hospitable from the frozen wastelands of Minnesota ā¦
I have long believed that District of Columbia residents should be able to vote in their last state of residence. Any native DC residents should be able to ādeclareā a home state and vote in that states federal elections.
---
### Author:  [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)
#### Post date: [February 6, 2013, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-progressives-and-liberals-lets-pick-out-a-state-to-take-over-like-mississippi/649318/85 "2013-02-06T04:31:07Z")
> [@Zoe](#):
>
> Yāall are cordially invited to Tennessee ā which I think would be idea for a first run.
>
> The state is divided into three sections by the Tennessee River.
>
> West Tennessee is already blue. No need to settle there.
>
> Middle Tennessee is a mixture. Nashville is a fun place to live. There is lots of diversity, the state capital is here (and desperately needs reforming), yet Nashville , in general is liberal. We supported Obama both times. There are lots of caves and woods nearby for those who are so inclined. The concerts offer so much of a variety of entertainment that everyone has plenty to relax to. Vanderbilt is one of the great training centers for progressive education. And counties which arenāt as progressive are nearby.
>
> East Tennessee is most in need of help ā and yet they have some of the prettiest places to live. Lots of hills and mountains with snow when you want to ski. (That may be changing a little with the climate becoming warmer.) Chattanooga is beautiful and great for history buffs. But East Tennessee seems to go red every time. There is good SEC football at UT in Knoxville The dunes of the Outer Banks in N.C. arenāt out of reach and Ashville N.C., a haven for artists and writers, is over the mountains (all for entertainment purposes). But there are plenty of **intelligent** people ready for conversion. We can start with U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander and U.S. Senator Bob Corker and the Governor of the state. All are conservatives. Some are intelligent. Any could be replaced with former Governor Phil Bredesen or Harold Ford for starters.
>
> Yāall come!
I have spent time in Tennessee, it is indeed a beautiful place. It has more people than Mississippi, and does not NEED progressivising as much as Mississippi, but I guess there is a balance.
---
### Author:  [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)
#### Post date: [February 6, 2013, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-progressives-and-liberals-lets-pick-out-a-state-to-take-over-like-mississippi/649318/86 "2013-02-06T04:45:39Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#):
>
> Bet a Disneybuck, if I had one, that none of your family has ever caught you out on any of those lies with a basic, easy, 10-seconds-of-Googling fact-check. 'Cause, the RW canāt be beholden to fact-checkers.
Obviously not. Do you think people who believe Obama is the antichrist who isnāt a US citizen, that death panels exist in the health reform bill, etc. care about facts or fact checking?
There is a book called āthe republican brainā which describes how conservatives are more likely to use logic and reason to justify an opinion they have an emotional investment in whereas liberals more deny the interplay between emotions and logic and think of them as separate (which they arenāt). They arenāt going to change their opinions because of fact checkers.
Its fun to use their debate tactics against them. Damn fun.
---
### Author:  [@RandMcnally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandMcnally)
#### Post date: [February 6, 2013, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-progressives-and-liberals-lets-pick-out-a-state-to-take-over-like-mississippi/649318/87 "2013-02-06T05:49:20Z")
> [@Mdcastleman](#):
>
> Isnāt California already taken over?
Not in the least. You drive twenty minutes inland you might as well be in Alabama.
---
### Author:  [@ITR\_champion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ITR_champion)
#### Post date: [February 6, 2013, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-progressives-and-liberals-lets-pick-out-a-state-to-take-over-like-mississippi/649318/88 "2013-02-06T14:38:50Z")
> [@ITR Champion](#):
>
> To me it seems more likely that Obama and Congressional Democrats continue the War on Drugs in order to keep liberals happy.
> [@rogerbox](#):
>
> What?? š
President Obama and the Democratic Party have a base of liberal voters. They know they pay attention to the demands of these voters if they wish to keep being elected. If the Democrats continuously support the War on Drugs, itās probably because liberals want them to do so. The idea that Democrats continuously support the War on Drugs because conservatives want them to do so makes no sense.
---
### Author:  [@rogerbox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rogerbox)
#### Post date: [February 6, 2013, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-progressives-and-liberals-lets-pick-out-a-state-to-take-over-like-mississippi/649318/89 "2013-02-06T14:56:20Z")
> [@ITR\_champion](#):
>
> President Obama and the Democratic Party have a base of liberal voters. They know they pay attention to the demands of these voters if they wish to keep being elected. If the Democrats continuously support the War on Drugs, itās probably because liberals want them to do so. The idea that Democrats continuously support the War on Drugs because conservatives want them to do so makes no sense.
I donāt blame the war on drugs on conservatives, I blame it on all of the people that make billions on the war on drugs and incarcerating people for non-violent drug offenses, systematic racism, and the corrupt lobbying system. āConservative votersā probably donāt even make it into the top 10 reasons why the stupid war on drugs continues to this day (but thankfully less so in my state of Washington).
I wonāt even entertain your chain of āreasoningā about how Obama is at the beck and call of liberals, it is laughable considering how much the guy fantasizes about Reagan and is by all reasonable metrics an oldschool moderate Republican.
edit: Also please explain to me how Republicans also donāt keep the war on drugs going. You canāt play a 90ās arcade game without Nancy Reagan reminding you that winners donāt use drugs. None of the politicos except crazy ass Rand Paul really advocate the end of the war on drugs, because the war on drugs is big business.
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### Author:  [@Human\_Action](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Human_Action)
#### Post date: [February 6, 2013, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-progressives-and-liberals-lets-pick-out-a-state-to-take-over-like-mississippi/649318/90 "2013-02-06T14:57:42Z")
> [@ITR\_champion](#):
>
> President Obama and the Democratic Party have a base of liberal voters. They know they pay attention to the demands of these voters if they wish to keep being elected. If the Democrats continuously support the War on Drugs, itās probably because liberals want them to do so. The idea that Democrats continuously support the War on Drugs because conservatives want them to do so makes no sense.
Thereās another option thatās been excluded, which is that the Obama administration continues the War on Drugs to appeal to moderates, who might vote Republican if the Democrats were to make radical drug-policy shifts, in numbers far greater than the number of voters theyād gain by such a shift.
---
### Author:  [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)
#### Post date: [February 6, 2013, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-progressives-and-liberals-lets-pick-out-a-state-to-take-over-like-mississippi/649318/91 "2013-02-06T15:04:03Z")
> [@ITR\_champion](#):
>
> If the Democrats continuously support the War on Drugs, itās probably because liberals want them to do so.
First I donāt support any gun rights whatsoever, now I support the war on drugs. Itās amazing what you learn about your views from reading this message board!
---
### Author:  [@Tristan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tristan)
#### Post date: [February 6, 2013, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-progressives-and-liberals-lets-pick-out-a-state-to-take-over-like-mississippi/649318/92 "2013-02-06T16:27:02Z")
> [@RandMcnally](#):
>
> Not in the least. You drive twenty minutes inland you might as well be in Alabama.
Now nowā¦ Sacramento is a nice little bastion of fairly sensible political thought in the midst of the Agribusiness red.
I have long said that California is a largely red state, with a strip of blue on the coast, and Sacraemnto, the Bay, and LA to add color.
And for what itās worth, starting with a state as fundamentally broken as California is is probably a terrible idea. IJS.
---
### Author:  [@lance\_strongarm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lance_strongarm)
#### Post date: [February 6, 2013, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-progressives-and-liberals-lets-pick-out-a-state-to-take-over-like-mississippi/649318/93 "2013-02-06T17:05:35Z")
> [@Damuri\_Ajashi](#):
>
> I have long believed that District of Columbia residents should be able to vote in their last state of residence. Any native DC residents should be able to ādeclareā a home state and vote in that states federal elections.
Interesting idea. I doubt any state would go for that though.
---
### Author:  [@lance\_strongarm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lance_strongarm)
#### Post date: [February 6, 2013, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-progressives-and-liberals-lets-pick-out-a-state-to-take-over-like-mississippi/649318/94 "2013-02-06T17:07:07Z")
I wonder if thereās a bizarro thread on some RW board saying that conservatives should take over New York or Massachusetts and fix them too.
---
### Author:  [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)
#### Post date: [February 6, 2013, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-progressives-and-liberals-lets-pick-out-a-state-to-take-over-like-mississippi/649318/95 "2013-02-06T17:56:06Z")
> [@lance\_strongarm](#):
>
> I wonder if thereās a bizarro thread on some RW board saying that conservatives should take over New York or Massachusetts and fix them too.
I dunno, but every now and then Libertarians float the idea of taking over some low-population state by immigration. They donāt seem to realize there are too few of them to do it.
---
### Author:  [@rogerbox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rogerbox)
#### Post date: [February 6, 2013, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-progressives-and-liberals-lets-pick-out-a-state-to-take-over-like-mississippi/649318/96 "2013-02-06T17:57:06Z")
BTW, as soon as Progressiveland was achieved the republicans would just gerrymander everything to eliminate any benefits anyways. Much easier to just try to eliminate the electoral college.
Lefties are pathetic weaklings who play by Republican rules happily.
---
### Author:  [@lance\_strongarm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lance_strongarm)
#### Post date: [February 6, 2013, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-progressives-and-liberals-lets-pick-out-a-state-to-take-over-like-mississippi/649318/97 "2013-02-06T18:19:33Z")
> [@rogerbox](#):
>
> BTW, as soon as Progressiveland was achieved the republicans would just gerrymander everything to eliminate any benefits anyways.
Well then, weāll just have to all move in at an exactly equal density so they canāt! Put a new progressive in every 100 square yards or so, all across the chosen state.
---
### Author:  [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)
#### Post date: [February 6, 2013, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-progressives-and-liberals-lets-pick-out-a-state-to-take-over-like-mississippi/649318/98 "2013-02-06T18:49:46Z")
> [@lance\_strongarm](#):
>
> Interesting idea. I doubt any state would go for that though.
I bet every blue state would be OK with the idea. I can just imagine all the DC natives getting together and deciding that their state of residence for voting pruposes is Florida.
---
### Author:  [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)
#### Post date: [February 6, 2013, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-progressives-and-liberals-lets-pick-out-a-state-to-take-over-like-mississippi/649318/99 "2013-02-06T18:51:37Z")
> [@Furious\_Marmot](#):
>
> Progressive political views skew young, well-educated, and possibly well-compensated. What does MS offer those demographics? Itās hot, humid, the beaches are so-so, there is a dearth of jobs for the creative class, and the locals sound un-fun to be around. Not easy to build a recruiting video out of āAs tree-covered as many other places, but more churches and no snow, we promiseā.
>
> If someone with a newly printed degree wants a pleasant climate and natural beauty, they can go to NC. Which already has established employers, a full range of housing options from big city to rural, and a far more cosmopolitan culture than most of the gulf coast. What is the MS equivalent of the Triangle, Asheville, or the entire freaking NC Atlantic coast?
North Carolina sounds good, and its kind of on the line politically, so a big influx of progressives could change the voting map signficantly. I just donāt know if North Carolina needs help the way Mississippi does.
---
### Author:  [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)
#### Post date: [February 6, 2013, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-progressives-and-liberals-lets-pick-out-a-state-to-take-over-like-mississippi/649318/100 "2013-02-06T18:53:43Z")
> [@ITR\_champion](#):
>
> President Obama and the Democratic Party have a base of liberal voters. They know they pay attention to the demands of these voters if they wish to keep being elected. If the Democrats continuously support the War on Drugs, itās probably because liberals want them to do so. The idea that Democrats continuously support the War on Drugs because conservatives want them to do so makes no sense.
As Rogerbox points out, Obama is basically a Reagan Republican, he has no interest in his Democratic base at all, just uses them as needed and mocks them in private.
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