[Homestead] was Reading the bailout bill, now Maine politics
Akka Homestead
akkabhomestead at yahoo.com
Thu Oct 2 23:56:31 EDT 2008
SJC wrote:
Maine is almost like 2 states, and in fact folks
> from the county are apt to say about someone from, say Augusta (roughly
> central) is "from Maine" and to tell a newcomer that they themselves
> live in "the other Maine".....so quite a schism there, but in politics
> not so much. I read in Bangor paper a couple of years ago that 10% of
> Democrats in the state and 50% of Republicans had change their party
> affiliation to Independent or Green, so that's a lot of discontent. The
> Republican Party has been in hot water here since the Reagan era and the
> whole Bush thing has pushed it over the edge.
Georgia is like multiple states as well. It is the largest state east of the Mississippi and the north part has more of a Appalachian loner,self sufficency mindset whereas the Southern coastal plain has a tendancy to be more like someplace like Iowa or Nebraska..large farming communities..hard workers all. In the middle, you have the cities, Atlanta, Macon, and Savannah along with Columbus, Albany, and Athens. The large cities tend to attract minorities, the wealthy, and those highly educated. They are also mostly Blue counties. They make up most of the state's population. The Atlanta metro area is about 5.6 million people now and the entire state has close to 9.8 million...by the time you account for the states other cities, those of us in in the boonies are definitely the minority. Those living outside of the cities are mostly white, middle class or poor...Joe Sixpack, as Sarah calls them. Rural blacks and other minorities vote not with
their urban brethren, but with their white neighbors.
I am glad to hear that people are discontented enough to change parties. That is what we need. That is the hope I alluded to in my post to Gene. I think we may be at a tipping point to where people are finally fed up enough to act. It may be small acts at first, but they are making a statement. We need more of that.
With Obama on the ticket, I believe that Georgia's days as a red state are history. Here's why. On the news and in one instance in my real life contacts, I see blacks stating they will vote for Obama. I think it is reasonable on emotional grounds that they want to support Obama in this historic election. I wouldn't vote for Hillary because she is a woman, that's just me, but I do understand that it is human nature to vote for whomever you feel is a kindred spirit. But, it is a rare thing for me to hear a black person say they will vote for McCain, and this is a state that has voted Republican in recent years. So if half of Georgia is in Atlanta(GA overall is 30% black), and the metro area is about 62% black, then if voter turnout is high, Georgia will soon be a Blue state, because the Blue counties carry the weight. If by some miracle McCain pulls Georgia, it will be because Obama failed to motivate the black vote on that Tuesday. And that's
just the the black side of the racial aspect. Of the thousands of whites in the state, I'd say it's about a 50/50 split on McCain or Obama. The state also has a lot of Hispanics, and while the Hispanics I know aren't fond of blacks in general, they certainly are not fond of McCain's immigration policies either. My guess is that if they vote, they will vote Obama.
I was looking up a a stat for this and found this story...basically Obama has said the same thing I am saying. He is predicting a big change, too. http://www.boston.com/news/politics/2008/articles/2008/07/16/obama_predicts_black_voter_increase_southern_wins/
>
> I think the general truth is that many folks here are disgusted with the
> whole lot of politicians, period. There are precious few who are
> willing to stand up and do the right thing, regardless of whence they come.
Yes, I think the whole of America feels this way.
> Now I'm gonna get my knitting and watch The Chick and The Drone.
>
> Susan Jane, soaked
LOL, hope the winds dry you out soon. Thanks for giving me the skinny on Maine. I've always been fascinated by Maine. You have moose up there, no?
Akka B
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