Future West Virginia's?

[RINO Tom]

Iowa and Alaska seem to be good bets, IMO. Maybe Virginia and Maine as well.

How did you forget NH?

Because it already is less competitive than WV.

It's literally not.

How so?

Consistently close in Presidential elections. One Democratic Senator and one Republican one. One Democratic representative in the House and one Republican one. Republicans control both houses of the state legislature. But please, tell us all how New Hampshire is more solidly Democratic than Washington, DC.

West Virginia also has a Senator from each party, but otherwise, I agree.

And in local politics, WV is not a solidly Republican state.

[Young Conservative]

Iowa and Alaska seem to be good bets, IMO. Maybe Virginia and Maine as well.

How did you forget NH?

Because it already is less competitive than WV.

Why are you so obsessed with being so wrong about New Hampshire? I want it to vote republican so bad now lol

[YaBoyNY]

You guys really should stop arguing with people like TN volunteer who know far more about NH politics than you do.

[Clark Kent]

You guys really should stop arguing with people like TN volunteer who know far more about NH politics than you do.

Dude, you're just a hack. Republicans will prove you wrong in November, when they'll carry NH decisively!

He is, though. If I were you, I wouldn't want his support. He's clearly a troll.

[YaBoyNY]

You guys really should stop arguing with people like TN volunteer who know far more about NH politics than you do.

Dude, you're just a hack. Republicans will prove you wrong in November, when they'll carry NH decisively!

You guys really should stop arguing with people like TN volunteer who know far more about NH politics than you do.

Dude, you're just a hack. Republicans will prove you wrong in November, when they'll carry NH decisively!

He is, though. If I were you, I wouldn't want his support. He's clearly a troll.

I don't think it's out of the question for Hillary Clinton to win NH even if she loses by 10+ points in November.

Also, does troll now = anything you disagree with? I've noticed you seem to dislike PC culture, well, you know what one of the top complaints about PC culture is? Labeling those you disagree with.

[pbrower2a]

Virginia could be the inverse of West Virginia. I could also make the case that New Mexico is, too.

Missouri could be an analogue, if a bit later. Southern Missouri is much like West Virginia.

... an inverse in a few years? Maybe Arizona due to population change.  Indiana has some cultural similarities to nearby states (IL, MI, OH) that have steadily drifted D in Presidential politics; it is simply more rural than the others. South Bend is about as D as fairly-close Kalamazoo, and Indianapolis is about as D as Cincinnati.   

[WVdemocrat]

I think Utah becoming Democratic would require Republicans alienating Mormons somehow, which I suppose is possible. Although I think Alaska might be a more likely contender for a Republican equivalent to West Virginia

Trump is alienating Mormons.

[Xing]

Don't bother talking about NH on this forum, you all know exactly what'll come of it.

Anyway, I'm not buying IA being the next WV unless it's at least 5-6 points more Republican than the nation as a whole this year. WV didn't really have a swing state phase, it went from being a Democratic given to a strongly Republican state rather quickly. I doubt we'll see anything like that this year, and I'm guessing we won't until the parties change their platforms, or there's some kind of enormous realignment.

[Higgs]

'Libertarian-ish' is a weird way to describe Utah.

Agreed, I don't understand what's libertarian about Utah.

[pbrower2a]

So what happened in West Virginia?

Democrats could win reliably as the result of the New Deal (the New Deal coalition was very strong in West Virginia until it aged into irrelevance) and the powerful United Mine Workers Union (UMW)  that could deliver reliable numbers of votes to Democrats despite West Virginia being culturally conservative.

But elected Democrats relied heavily on issues of labor and utterly neglected education and physical infrastructure. As the mines played out, the UMW lost its ability to deliver the votes of miners and their families. West Virginia began to have the demographics of a typical Southern state except for having fewer blacks.

The fall of Democrats in West Virginia has been unusually swift in part because Democrats were very much in charge as the economy wilted.

[Heisenberg]

'Libertarian-ish' is a weird way to describe Utah.

Agreed, I don't understand what's libertarian about Utah.

It strikes me as fiscally libertarian, socially accepting (but traditional, and family-oriented), and a tolerance of diversity and foreign cultures (due to strong LDS missionary tradition).