Hawaii

[ottermax]

Hawaii has a very high cost of living, and most people have to work hard to earn a living. My relatives in Hawaii are Asian-Americans, and traditionally Democrat. My grandparents live in a small 1 story house where the rooms merge together. Its very different here on the mainland where you can get a huge house for about the same price. My other relatives live in apartments, and although the unemployment rate the lowest in the nation (3.3 according to wikipedia) most of the jobs pay the same as on the mainland, but everything costs twice as much. These struggles with money and the Democrats' views for programs such as free healthcare and welfare appeal to many Hawaiians struggling to make ends meet.

I also remember an article I read from the 2004 election about the different ethnic groups and their voting patterns. The largest group, the Japanese, vote heavily Democratic, while Filipinos, Military, and Native Hawaiians were voting for Bush (the reason the election was closer than expected). The Whites were split down the middle.

I hope this clears out some debate, and much of these are assumptions that I can't prove since I don't live in Hawaii.