Least Polarizing State

[nclib]

I'd say Nebraska.

[Alcon]

Between Democrats and Republicans, or most homogeneous voting?

I would say Rhode Island in the latter case.

[nclib]

Mainly the latter, though I was also considering cultural factors.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

Obviously Vermont. They have both indepdents in Congress. Republican Douglas leads by 20 points in the governor race, but that won't stop Vermont from giving 70% of the vote to an actual Socialist in the US Senate race.

[Alcon]

Obviously Vermont. They have both indepdents in Congress. Republican Douglas leads by 20 points in the governor race, but that won't stop Vermont from giving 70% of the vote to an actual Socialist in the US Senate race.

Vermont is a good choice for closest voter base.

[adam]

Idaho?

[jokerman]

Arkansas is very homogenous in political nature if not for the Northwest, which most definitely prevents it from receiving the tittle of "least polarizing."

[True Democrat]

Definitely not Pennsylvania.  Maybe Wyoming.

[Gabu]

Maine comes to mind not as a homogeneous state, but as a state where extremes don't really exist to any large degree, at least not to my knowledge.

[jokerman]

Maine comes to mind not as a homogeneous state, but as a state where extremes don't really exist to any large degree, at least not to my knowledge.

I always thought there was a divide between Portland and the more New England-type areas and the rural wilderness to the North and West.  Could be just because I saw a map with that divide once.

[Nym90]

Maine comes to mind not as a homogeneous state, but as a state where extremes don't really exist to any large degree, at least not to my knowledge.

Maine is certainly a very nonpartisan state, probably the least partisan in the entire country. Consider that Perot got 30 percent of the vote there in 1992 and 14 percent even in 1996, Angus King got 59 percent running as an independent for Governor in 1998 (and also won in 1994), and they are willing to give more than 70 percent of the vote to Republican Senators despite voting for Democrats for President with 55 percent of the vote at the same time.

[Gabu]

Regarding Maine, one should also take a look at the crazy town map from there from 1992:

[Alcon]

On that note, could someone explain Maine's township system to me?  Why are there vast stretches that cast no votes?

[Gabu]

On that note, could someone explain Maine's township system to me?  Why are there vast stretches that cast no votes?

Perhaps a population density map will shed some light on this issue:



A whole lot of Maine is completely and utterly uninhabited.  90% of its landmass is forest, hence the name "pine tree state".

[Alcon]

Interesting.  Do they bother to divide into townships?  Where do those folks vote?

[Gabu]

Do they bother to divide into townships?

No.

Where do those folks vote?

That I don't know, actually.

[Platypus]

Nationwide, Hawaii or Iowa. No-one cares about either, except for beaches and corn. Within the state, no idea, unless you count DC. Here, it´d be the ACT, but for an actual state...maybe WA, but it could also be QLD, SA or TAS, or maybe even NSW or VIC.

[Alcon]

Nationwide, Hawaii or Iowa. No-one cares about either, except for beaches and corn. Within the state, no idea, unless you count DC. Here, it´d be the ACT, but for an actual state...maybe WA, but it could also be QLD, SA or TAS, or maybe even NSW or VIC.

Hawai'i actually has some very, very conservative parts - Mormons, interestingly.

[nclib]

Nationwide, Hawaii or Iowa. No-one cares about either, except for beaches and corn. Within the state, no idea, unless you count DC. Here, it´d be the ACT, but for an actual state...maybe WA, but it could also be QLD, SA or TAS, or maybe even NSW or VIC.

Iowa has some political differences between east and west.

[ottermax]

I have a few ideas, but I'll decide which one later.

-Hawaii: Voters here are moderate, despite being very democratic. Only twice have the counties voted differently since 1960 (although, there are only 4 of them).

-Nebraska: There is a slight difference between east and west, but it is slight considering the fact the all but one of the counties voted for Bush.

-Rhode Island: Similar to Hawaii, the counties are consistent, but I'm not sure of the moderation of the voters.

I would like to know what exactly is meant by "least polarizing" Is this geograpy based or voter based?

[Cubby]

Do they bother to divide into townships?

No.

Where do those folks vote?

That I don't know, actually.

Alcon, nobody lives in the undivided areas, as in zero people. If say 20 people lived in a spot, then it would perhaps become a township. But huge tracts of land (Monty Python reference ) are 100% uninhabited. Some is protected wilderness, while much of the forests are owned by logging companies (or perhaps leased to them by the state?) The reason no one lives in Northwest Maine is that the soil is too rocky for farming and there are too many trees, unlike North Dakota which has the same weather but good soil.

One of my professors once said the logging industry plays a big role in Maine's politics. That could be a reason why Piscatiquis County stayed with Bush last year, it has the smallest population of any county in the state and has some of the most undeveloped land.