Political Trends where you disagree with the Atlas Consensus

[jamestroll]

Also, Jimmie, no one thinks NH or IL will be "solid GOP" states ... you just want to keep talking about it.

No sir... why are you bringing this up weeks later?

I think IL will be rock solid Democratic for presidential voting but fairly competitive for state elections.

I agree with MT Treasurer and Heisenberg on New Hampshire.

[Dr. MB]

Many people here think that much of Appalachia is gone for good for the Democrats, even places where Democrats have a majority or plurality of registered voters.

I think that if the Democrats run candidates who can genuinely appeal to these people via economic populism, they can take back at least a significant chunk of this region where they have done well in the past. Many Appalachian voters live in poverty, yet they vote Republican because they think the Democratic party doesn't care about them enough. I believe this is due to corporatist influence on the party - if the party can rid itself of corporatist influence and genuinely portray themselves as the party of the working class, I think Appalachian voters will be more than happy to "come home" for them.

P.S. Although some people may be hostile toward the Democratic party for having policies unfavorable toward coal, I think most of these people do recognize that coal is on track to becoming a thing of the past. If the Democratic party pitches alternative non-coal jobs to these people (including jobs related to alternative/clean energy) in a manner which shows that they care about them, that will also be effective in winning these voters back.

I agree. I also think Richard Ojeda, for example, is a much better fit for West Virginia than Joe Manchin.