The Great American Ironies

[Joe Republic]

I was recently thinking of a few ironies in the American landscape.  For example:


-- Massachusetts began life as a deeply conservative colony of Puritan settlers.  Today it is a deeply liberal state of predominantly Catholics.

-- The notoriously anti-immigrant states of Texas and Arizona used to be part of Mexico.

-- Las Vegas, a.k.a. 'Sin City', began life as a Mormon colony.


Anybody have any more?

[freepcrusher]

Anybody have any more?

Oklahoma being a hotbed of the ALP and CPUSA in the early 20th century

[Joe Republic]

Yeah, that's a good one.

Another one is that the only two states to stay loyally Republican in 1912 are now polar opposite ends of the partisan spectrum a hundred years later.

[So the Heroes Fall]

John Kerry's best county in 2004 (unless you count DC) and Obama's third best county (again excluding DC) was also Coolidge's third best county in 1924.

In 1932 Hoover lost in a landslide, but did manage to carry Pennsylvania...thanks to his strength in Philadelphia and the immediate surrounding areas.

Alaska and Hawaii were admitted to the union as sort of a "trade" agreement, with the expectation that Alaska would be a reliably Democratic state and Hawaii a reliably Republican one.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

Connecticut 1965: No you can't have birth control
Connecticut 2008: Sure, gay marriage is cool

Vermont's impressive swing from hardcore Republican to hardcore Democratic, and that Patrick Leahy is the only Democrat they've ever elected to the Senate.

[So the Heroes Fall]

Before 2008 who would've ever predicted that the first black President and first President born in Hawaii would be the same person?

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

Before 2008 who would've ever predicted that the first black President and first President born in Hawaii would be the same person?

Or first black President and first President to have lived in Asia?

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

1970 Connecticut US Senate election:
You have the incumbent pro-war Democrat running as an Independent, Thomas Dodd, endorsed by his son Chris Dodd
You have the anti-war Democrat, who was endorsed by Joe Lieberman
And you have the winner, the Republican Lowell Weicker

2006 Connecticut US Senate election:
You have the incumbent pro-war Democrat running as an Independent, Joe Lieberman
You have the anti-war Democrat, Ned Lamont, endorsed by both Chris Dodd and Lowell Weicker
And you have some Republican no one cares about

[dpmapper]

Before 2008 who would've ever predicted that the first black President and first President born in Hawaii would be the same person?

Or first black President and first President to have lived in Asia?

Herbert Hoover was black?!

[Torie]

In 1960, the poorest county in the US, Jackson County, KY, had the highest percentage vote for Nixon in the US (91% I believe).

[nclib]

One of the highest trends against McCain in 2008, was a county called "Maverick" (TX).

1990 PA Gov: Casey (D) landslide, loses only Montgomery County.

[realisticidealist]

One of the highest trends against McCain in 2008, was a county called "Maverick" (TX).

1990 PA Gov: Casey (D) landslide, loses only Montgomery County.

Considering it was a pro-life Democrat vs. a pro-choice Republican, the map is pretty fitting.

[Gravis Marketing]

The conservative southern congressional district that elected a black Republican in 2010 nearly elected a lesbian Democrat in 2008.

Strom Thurmond jumping to the "Party of Lincoln" because of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

The prominence of Mormon Democratic politicians, particularly in the U.S. Senate, given how lopsided the Mormon vote is for Republicans.

That Arlen Specter, a Jewish Republican from Philadelphia, was born in the same heartlandier-than-thou town as Bob Dole.

[asexual trans victimologist]

That Arlen Specter, a Jewish Republican from Philadelphia, was born in the same heartlandier-than-thou town as Bob Dole.

Arlen Specter was born in Wichita and Bob Dole was born in Russell.

The 'candidate of amnesty, abortion, and acid' whom Nixon buried in 1972 being from a Great Plains state and often coming across as some sort of Methodist preacher has got to count for something.

[Gravis Marketing]

Of the 11 or 13 ex-Confederate states, Virginia swung from most Republican (1976) to most Democratic (2008).

[Gravis Marketing]

That Arlen Specter, a Jewish Republican from Philadelphia, was born in the same heartlandier-than-thou town as Bob Dole.

Arlen Specter was born in Wichita and Bob Dole was born in Russell.

The 'candidate of amnesty, abortion, and acid' whom Nixon buried in 1972 being from a Great Plains state and often coming across as some sort of Methodist preacher has got to count for something.

My bad. Specter moved to Russell as a kid and graduated from Russell H.S.

[asexual trans victimologist]

That Arlen Specter, a Jewish Republican from Philadelphia, was born in the same heartlandier-than-thou town as Bob Dole.

Arlen Specter was born in Wichita and Bob Dole was born in Russell.

The 'candidate of amnesty, abortion, and acid' whom Nixon buried in 1972 being from a Great Plains state and often coming across as some sort of Methodist preacher has got to count for something.

My bad. Specter moved to Russell as a kid and graduated from Russell H.S.

Really! In that case the point stands. Weird.

[freepcrusher]

DeKalb County was one of Carter's worst home state counties in 1976. Now it is one of Obama's best counties in the state.

[Χahar]

Speaking of Mormon cities, San Francisco used to be predominantly Mormon.

[memphis]

[memphis]

...a street in Memphis called American Way. That part of town was developed in the Cold War era and I'm sure whoever named it had some sort of anti-Communist motive. It was never an especially fancy part of town, but it was a reasonable "Wonder Years" type neighborhood even as late as when I was a kid in the 1980s, and I spent a lot of time there as the biggest mall in town was right there off the interstate on American Way. By the 1990s the neighborhood was "changing" and became a very undesirable place to live. The mall closed in 2003 (most of the shops had long since gone vacant) and was torn down shortly thereafter. Not sure if it's still true, but at the time it was billed as the largest mall ever to be demolished. The site is still a grassy field and from time to time a muder victim will be found among the weeds.  Obviously, the street is still there, but nearly all redeeming businesses are gone. There are some run down hotels, liquor stores, and predatory lenders that are probably doing a fine business down on American Way. I don't get down that way too often, but whenever I do, I think about what the man who named that street would think if he could see what's on American Way. It makes a good metaphor.

[So the Heroes Fall]

The "yore" and "of" is just the icing on the cake.

Oh yeah also "Goverment".

[Oldiesfreak1854]

From the first presidential election Republicans competed in (1856) to 1988, Vermont voted for the GOP candidate in every pres election except 1964.  Vermont also elected all Republican governors from 1855 until the election of Democrat Philip Hoff in 1962.  However, Vermont has voted overwhelmingly Democrat in every presidential election since 1992.

In the first half of the 20th century, New Hampshire was probably the least Republican state in New England (albeit still pretty strongly Republican).  Now it's probably the most Republican (it's now a swing state).

Perhaps the greatest irony of all: blacks vote 90% Democrat, when the Democrats fought consistently throughout history against their freedom and equality and Republicans who fought for it.

[So the Heroes Fall]

Perhaps the greatest irony of all: blacks vote 90% Democrat, when the Democrats fought consistently throughout history against their freedom and equality and Republicans who fought for it.

Yes, it's quite ironic that blacks today care more about economic issues and which President had the Civil Rights Act passed than what positions the parties took in the 19th century.

[opebo]

The land of the free nickname for a country of prudes.