I actually like this poll, because the race I’m most concerned about is Peters/James in MI. If Trafalgar is showing James with the same margin as Trump, that’s a good sign.
I mean c’mon. After seeing this ad I almost want to vote for the guy (not really, but you know what I mean)
I think I made this comment somewhere else on the forum recently but I think I have seen evidence that the liberal/conservative partisanship corresponds to the urban/rural divide in the US. Of course there are some liberal people in rural areas and vice versa, but I think thats the structural driver. Any state will have both rural and urban areas, and states like NY or Cali get portrayed as liberal but what they really are is urban dominant.
The ratio is 52k to 9k lol.
Right, exactly. Its the same driving across upstate NY farmland, or the eastern part of California.
For sure the republican agenda moving forward is going to be to try and disable all early voting that they possibly can.
Generally true, but there are some exceptions/other factors. (notably Oregon and Washington are more liberal than you’d predict by their moderate urbanization)
I wouldn’t be surprised if you were in the 25%.
Yep. Look at this map of Northern Florida of the 2016 election. The blue county is Alachua County. That’s where Gainesville and University of Florida is. Every single county surrounding it is deep red. The entire country is basically like this.
The answer to Biden not doing everything I want is obviously to re-elect Trump. That will show them.
#NoseSpiteFace
Yes, and I think it’s useful to remember why this is true:
Rural and urban residents live fundamentally different lives and rely upon government for fundamentally different reasons.
People who live in dense urban settings share walls with their neighbors, are more likely to breathe the same air, and in general are very likely to experience externalities from their neighbors’ actions. So it’s important to those people that government establish rules that limit the effect of those externalities, including things like:
In short, residents of densely-populated areas are more likely to favor restrictive government action because even though they are constrained by those restrictions, they also benefit from restrictive government action - their own apartment is safer because their neighbors are constrained in what they can do in their apartment; their lives are better because neighbors aren’t allowed to have roosters crowing at 5am; they’re less likely to get accidentally shot by a stray bullet.
This isn’t true for rural residents. For them, government restrictions take away their freedoms without offering any corresponding benefits. So a noise ordinance means they can’t party like they want to at 4am, but it doesn’t bring them any benefit because there are no neighbors that might interrupt their sleep with 4am parties. Similarly, gun controls restrict their ability to hunt without any corresponding safety benefits because there are no nearby neighbors that might accidentally shoot them.
And it goes beyond individuals’ views of government restrictions - it also influences what they think about government-provided services. Residents in dense urban areas see the benefits of public transportation like subways and buses. But subways and buses are either non-existent or suck for people in low-density regions. Same thing for libraries - great in high-density areas because that density allows for a larger variety of product, but equally crappy in low-density areas. As a result, people in low-density regions are less likely to view government-funded activities/entities as good things.
In short, high-density people should naturally want a government that places greater constraints on individual freedoms, and that takes a more active rule in the economy. Low-density people naturally want a government that stays the hell out of their business, doesn’t constrain their freedom at all, and doesn’t try to provide public goods. Thus, Republicans.
Yes but it seems obvious the most effective way to do that is have Trump win. These tactics make sense on level zero if they’re trying to help him.
I mean, that theoretical explanation is all well and good but nobody eats more government cheese than rural Americans. They’re mostly just fucking racist.
I am particularly gracious and wise. Also humble.
This is a good summery. I have lived in both a major US city (Houston) and rural America in towns with less than 500 people. It really is like 2 different countries. I have a lot of conservative family members that have lived in suburbs their entire lives. They have zero awareness of how rural America really is.
For example, my sister in law constantly complains about taxes. When I told her I had to drive my garbage 15 miles away to the county dump 2x a week, she was just befuddled as to why. She couldn’t get her head around the fact that I would put my dirty garbage in my car. Just the thought of it repulsed her. Yet she whines about paying the taxes that pay for the garbage man to come pick her trash up. These people are the worst type of conservatives because they really aren’t conservative. They love taking advantage of social programs. They just don’t want to pay for it.
On the other hand, rural America is absolutely baffled about how urban America lives. They mock stuff like calling 9-1-1. My old landlord had a sign on his property that said “I don’t call 9-1-1; I shoot to kill.” The idea that 9-1-1 can be used for other things other than stopping someone from breaking in, raping, and murdering your wife/family is foreign to him.
Also there are plenty of things that the govt can do to help rurals, they just fight against those things too
I think alot of that stuff is infrastructure and subsidized consumption though. Republicans don’t really preach self reliance on that stuff.
Because adding high speed rail is ridiculously expensive and basically means building new track (including obtaining right of way etc) instead of routing on existing track.
Honestly I’m not sure what that map even means as Amtrak already runs most of that map
Sounds like an achievable plan then!
The thing about Amtrak is the people who run it want to kill it. Last week they cut almost all the long-distance trains to 3 days a week instead of daily. Which is a pretty obvious attempt to kill off the long distance trains in a step-wise manner. With that in mind, this fantasy map is an attempt to mollify those who don’t want to kill off the long distance trains… by making vague, and dishonest, claims that the long distance trains will come back better than ever some magical day in the future.
