Iowa

[Alcon]

Am I the only one for whom it boggles the mind that Iowa is still a viable option for the Democrats?

It seems like every other state like Iowa is trending Republican or already is solidly Republican, yet not only does rural Iowa (especially eastern) still vote for Democrats by decent margins, but it isn't really trending that quickly.

Why hasn't Iowa jumped ship, or at least moved a little right of the national center?  Even the eastern areas that bare resemblence to Nebraska and Kansas are relatively competitive.

[Alcon]

Sioux County is extremely Dutch

Okay but are they Amish or something? You're probably right because there was a county in Nebraska (Saline I think) that always voted Democrat, even in Republican landslides, and when I looked it up I found that it had a large Hungarian population. I guess different European ethnicities vote different ways in the midwest.

Dutch immigrants are largely very conservative.  This is also reflected in places like Holland County, Michigan.

[Alcon]

Iowa is a strange micture of old and new politics. You have your big Democratic towns (Davenport, Iowa City, Des Moines) and your big Republican towns (Sioux City, Bettendorf). Couple these with Conservative small towns (West Branch) and liberal small towns (Clinton) and you have a strange state for the politicians.

The county with Sioux City in it only voted 51-49 Bush.  Is the city of Sioux City itself Democratic?