Why is/was President Obama so amazingly popular in Vermont?

[Warren Griffin]

In 2004 Kerry was strong too, but President Obamas numbers in 2008 seems pretty impressive.

[Warren Griffin]

Well, it's a pretty long-term trend in Vermont, which is continuously trending democrat since 1988 (with the exception of 2000, but it was probably due to Nader).

Ok, I also see an general trend since 1988, but these numbers still look awesome in my opinion. About plus 27 is extraordinary dominant. Altough Kerry was generally a weak candidate, he possibly
have had a kind of "New England bonus". By the way, excuse me for my bad American English, but I am originally from Germany.

[Warren Griffin]

This shows how Democratic relative to the national average Vermont was in Presidential elections since 1988:

1988: D+2
1992: D+3
1996: D+4
2000: D+2 (due to Nader)
2004: D+11
2008: D+15

Keep in mind that Obama won a greater nationwide % of the vote than Kerry did, and thus it is expected that he would do better percentagewise in Vermont. Vermont did trend a little Democratic between 2004 and 2008, though. In 2004, Vermont was 11% more Democratic than the national average, while in 2008, Vermont was 15% more Democratic than the national average.

Thank you for the explanation, but why Vermont has trended so strong since 1988?