Midwest States

17 Republican States, All South, Great Plains, And Mountain West, Live In Alternative Universe As Rabid Trump Supporters

Ronald 81 Comments

After six months in office, Donald Trump’s public opinion ratings languish at 36 percent in many polls, and no higher than 40 percent in any of the reputable polls.

But in a Gallup poll, we discover that there are three tiers of states–17 states who love Trump and give him a rating of 50 or higher; 16 states where his rating is 40-50 percent; and 17 states where his rating is below 40 percent, and as low as 26 percent.

The 17 states that love Trump are in the South, Great Plains, and Mountain West, states that together have very few electoral votes–with West Virginia the highest support with 60 percent, followed by North Dakota with 59 percent and South Dakota with 57 percent, and then Montana and Wyoming with 56 percent and Alabama with 55 percent. All of the Great Plains states are part of the group, and the poorer Southern states of Arkansas, Louisiana, Tennessee, South Carolina, besides Alabama, and the Appalachian states of Kentucky and West Virginia, in addition to the four smaller populated Mountain States (Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, Utah), and Alaska. All 17 were Republican states in 2016.

The 16 states that give Trump between 40-50 percent include Maine and New Hampshire in New England; North Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Texas, and Mississippi in the South, with only Mississippi being a very poor state economically; Pennsylvania, and the Midwestern states of Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa, and Missouri; and Arizona and Nevada in the West.

And then,the 17 states that totally reject Trump include the New England area minus Maine and New Hampshire; the entire Northeast down through Virginia, except Pennsylvania; Illinois and Minnesota in the Midwest; Colorado and New Mexico in the Mountain West; and the Pacific Coast states of California, Oregon, Washington, and Hawaii. Vermont with 26, Massachusetts with 29, Maryland and California with 30, and New York with 31 give the lowest support to Trump.

So overall, the map of support is similar as it was in the Presidential Election of 2016, and the key area of contention remains the Midwest and Pennsylvania, and Florida, which elected Trump; and they will determine whether the Democratic nominee for President in 2020 can win the White House.

The Rapidly Growing Population Of North Carolina, Georgia, Arizona, Texas Bode Well For Democrats By The 2020 Presidential Election!

Ronald 12 Comments

Four states are rapidly growing in population, according to the Census Bureau, and all four, while “Red” states in the 2012 Presidential election, have the potential to turn “Blue” either in 2016 or certainly by 2020.

North Carolina seems most likely to go for Hillary Clinton, followed by Georgia and possibly Arizona. Longer term, there is Texas.

With North Carolina having 15, Georgia having 16, Arizona having 11, and Texas having 38 electoral votes now, it is certain that all four will have MORE electoral votes starting in 2024.

And Florida, a “swing” state with constantly growing population, particularly of increased Puerto Rican migration, has 29 electoral votes through the 2020 Presidential election, and assuredly will have more in 2024.

So it is highly likely that the Democratic Party will have, for sure, over 400 electoral votes by 2020, and if not, by 2024, an Electoral College landslide for the long term!

Add the present 80 electoral votes of the four presently “Red” states to the 332 that Barack Obama had in 2012, and you get 412 electoral votes, and again, more by 2024 after the reapportionment of seats in the House of Representatives and in the Electoral College after the Census of 2020!

Add the Midwestern states of Indiana (11) and Missouri (10) and you get 433 electoral votes to 105 for the Republicans, but again with probably more total electoral votes by gaining of population in the four Sunbelt states, even with the chance that Indiana and Missouri will not gain, and might lose a seat each.

So expect the chance that the total number of electoral votes could, and with the addition of Florida and California gaining seats as well, be in the high 430s!

The Supreme Court Has Set America Back On Basic Fairness And Justice!

Ronald 1 Comment

The Supreme Court of the United States is a much revered body, but sadly, in recent years, under Chief Justice John Roberts, the concept of America as a nation based on fairness and justice has suffered setbacks!

There is much evidence of this, but two key developments demonstrate how much the Supreme Court has set back progress!

The Citizens United Case of 2010 has allowed the rise of tremendous corporate spending and that by religious and social conservatives, leading to the rise and influence of the Tea Party Movement, and allowing the creation of stalemated, gridlock government under President Barack Obama, with the first time ever situation of a Republican House of Representatives and a Democratic Senate, with the GOP controlling the purse strings of government, and blocking all attempts to create jobs or promote legislation which advances the American nation. Instead, our government is being influenced by anarchists, couched in libertarianism, with the Koch Brothers and other wealthy corporate interests having undue influence on the deterioration of the rights of women, minorities, gays, and labor, along with attacks on any government regulation of the environment!

And the decision in June of this year, negating part of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, has now allowed many Republican state governments to pass legislation, taking away the basic right of voting on the false concept that voter fraud has been present and widespread, a total lie!

So the rights of minorities, the elderly, poor people, and college students are being curbed, and that is why the Justice Department under Attorney General Eric Holder is bringing laws suits under the curbed Voting Rights Act, trying to reverse the discriminatory legislation on voting in many Southern states, Midwest States, and Great Plains States, all designed to fix the results so that likely Democratic voters will be denied the basic tenet of democracy, the right to vote for one’s government leaders!

It took until the early 20th century under Theodore Roosevelt to gain legislation to take power over government away from the corporations of the Gilded Age, and it took until Lyndon B. Johnson in the 1960s to gain legislation so that all Americans could vote without discrimination!

Now in just three and a half years, the Republican dominated Supreme Court has rejected what TR and LBJ worked so hard to accomplish!

So the battle to overcome the Supreme Court right wing direction is on, and we cannot afford to allow the Court to take away our democracy–a government of, by, and for the people!

Eight States In The South Central US Lead Fight Against Abortion, Defying The Rest Of The Nation!

Ronald 4 Comments

A new Pew Research study demonstrates that the growing fight against abortion rights, guaranteed by Roe V. Wade forty years ago, but under constant attack in many Republican governed states and by evangelical right wing Christianity, is centered heavily in EIGHT South Central states heavily dominated by the Republican Party!

These states are Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas, where 52 percent in the poll wish to ban all abortions, except for the life of the mother, even making it illegal much earlier in the pregnancy, often before a woman is certain that she is pregnant in the first place!

The New England states are the highest percentage for abortion rights, at 75 percent; followed by 65 percent in the Pacific Coast states; 61 percent in the Mid Atlantic states; 59 percent in the Mountain West states; 50 percent in the Great Lakes states and in the South Atlantic states; and an even divide of 47-47 in the Midwest states of North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa, Missouri, and Minnesota. Only 40 percent support abortion rights in the South Central states, the only area to be negative!

The divide on abortion on support down to opposition used to be an 18 point gap, but now it is a whopping 35 points!

Once again, it is the GOP dominated parts of the nation, particularly the South and the Great Plains, which is, despite its small population overall, attempting to dominate and make social policy for the more educated, enlightened sections of the nation!

The question is why this is allowed to be so, as the other areas of the country are so far ahead socially, economically, educationally, and are in the 21st century, while in many ways, the GOP dominated states are living in the 19th century!

What Can Mitt Romney Win In November?

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Mitt Romney may have won Ohio by the small margin of one percent and about 12,000 votes over Rick Santorum, but the question remains: Where can he win a combination of states to equal a majority of 270 electoral votes?

Can he win New England, even his home state of Massachusetts? Unlikely, with maybe the exception of New Hampshire.

Can he win the Middle Atlantic states? Unlikely, with the best chance in Pennsylvania, but unlikely.

Can he win the South? Unlikely, despite being the GOP nominee, because of his Mormon faith. Sure, he will win some of the states but unlikely to win Florida, North Carolina or Virginia, the swing states, and a chance to lose Georgia to Barack Obama as well, with the growing Hispanic and Latino vote in the Peach State.

Can he win the Midwest? Well, maybe a few states, but he has lost all of the Midwest and Great Plains states that have had primaries and caucuses so far, except for his birth state of Michigan and a narrow win in Ohio. Rick Santorum has real support in this area of the country.

Can he win the Mountain States? Yes, for those which have large numbers of Mormons, including Arizona, Utah, and Idaho, and probably Montana and Wyoming as well, but not likely to win New Mexico, Colorado and Nevada.

Can he win the Pacific Coast states? Is that a serious question? NO, except for Alaska.

If the economy continues to get better, Mitt Romney has lost his biggest issue.

If the anti woman vendetta of Rush Limbaugh and social conservatives in Congress and the states continues, as with the failed Blunt Amendment and the Virginia vaginal probe law, Romney will lose.

If the anti immigrant (Hispanic and Latino) mentality of Arizona, Alabama, Georgia and other states continues, the only Hispanic vote Romney might win is the Cuban vote in Florida and elsewhere, but not the Mexican, Puerto Rican, Colombian, and other Latin nations’ immigrants, meaning only those who are legal and can vote.

If the extremism of the GOP continues down its destructive path, Independents will leave them in droves.

Of course, Barack Obama and the Democrats must work and plan as if they could lose the election, because they could, but the obstacles facing Mitt Romney are massive, and this could have a deleterious effect on the Republican Party in many state races and in both houses of Congress.