Barely Republican States

[Gass3268]

Like I said, the only claim that Virginia is a "Republican" or "Solid South" state is that there still are very conservative places in the mountains. Even Virginia Beach is steadily moving away from being a "Southern City".

The vast majority of Virginia easily fits within the characterization of being a part of the "Solid South".  You don't have to stay in the mountains.  They are as conservative as their peers in Georgia, Tennessee, or Alabama.  They're just becoming outnumbered by the more liberal populations in the D.C., Richmond, Charlottesville, and large population coastal areas.  If you drive between Charlottesville and Richmond you'll easily notice the cultural split happening in Virgina.  Plus, Southern cities are always more liberal than their rural counterparts.  That's par for the course.

The difference being that Republicans only recieve about 53-58% of the vote in the areas between the cities, outside the mountians, in Virginia. Compared to  Georgia, Tennessee, or Alabama where Republicans get in between 60-80% between the cities. Also many of the suburbs are shifting in Virginia. This is similar to what we are seeing in Georiga and North Carolina, but not in other states like Tennessee, or Alabama.

[Gass3268]

Virginia is going to look more like much larger version of Maryland in the future.

In Florida, the massive Miami-Dade swing singlehandedly won the state for Obama in 2012. the Republicans better hope that they return to their normal precentages when it comes to Cubans. It is almost impossible for them to win the state if the Cuban vote is split close 50-50. The problem is that younger Cubans are politically closer to other Latino nationalites then their Republican parents.