battleground states in 2020?

[Filuwaúrdjan]

All this trending crap is braindead. Are you all accountants or something?

[Filuwaúrdjan]

All this trending crap is braindead. Are you all accountants or something?

Actually that's what I studied.

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[Filuwaúrdjan]

The middle class vs. the "new populists":

Interesting

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Consider that this was the result in 1980, it's safe to say that it's a mystery what states will be battlegrounds in the 2020 election.

True. Especially the people who are just drawing trend lines from last year's results...

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Back to the actual topic...

[Filuwaúrdjan]

It is of no small wonder (and this is one of the strangest things about American politics) how many of these counties, in the Pennsylvania "T", continue to support a party whose economic policies have persistently and reliably contributed to the destruction of their communities over 30 years. Such an instance of electoral self-destruction would rarely be found anywhere in the world.

There is one other example: the Notts-Derbyshire coalfield in the '80's.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

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Although it's starting from a much higher startpoint than pretty much any other city

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Up to a point (it certainly seems to be the case in Westmoreland county) but the increased importence of social issues and the fact that Kerry basically failed to campaign on economic issues towards the end is also a reason (although it can be overstated).

[Filuwaúrdjan]

That's just not true, Al.  Pittsburgh is a very changed city, economically, from where it was 30 years ago.  The rusted out steel factories have been riped out and replaced with high-tech jobs areas and shopping centers.  I've seen it with my own two eyes.

True (and I don't think I've denied that). As a non-political point the re-generation of Pittsburgh has been one of the few good points as far as urban areas in the U.S over the past thirty odd years go. Shame it hasn't really spread to some of the inner suburbs just east of the city, although even their the situation is a lot better than it was ten years ago (and the northern suburbs, and I think even some of the western ones now, are doing pretty well).