It's official: New Jersey, Maine, Minnesota, Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin are all stupid

[brentspeak]

New Jersey (my state): Elected Republican Chris Christie as governor. Looks set to reelect him.

Maine: Elected Republican Paul LePage as governor

Minnesota: The 6th district has elected and reelected Republican Michelle Bachmann numerous times.

Wisconsin: Elected Republicans Scott Walker as governor and Ron Johnson as US Senator.

Michigan: Elected Republican Rick Snyder as governor.

Ohio: Elected Republican John Kasich as governor.

I could go on...and on...and on. But you get the idea.

So, if -- and I'm merely speculating wildly, here -- if some idiot runs around DU posting flamebait threads directed at southern Democrats, insulting them, flamebaiting them, calling them "stupid" and worse...

[Deep13]

1. No argument here.

I live in Ohio and have known for years that it's stupid.

[CincyDem]

3. Ditto x1000.

What astounds me is the consistency with which people I know here in Ohio knowingly vote against their economic self interests. These are the same people that will drive across town to save 9 cents on a roll of paper towels but then they vote for chit heads like Kasich that steal virtually every economic opportunity that might exist.

It is so frustrating to not have the flexibility to live somewhere inhabited by intelligent life.

[nebenaube]

2. Wisconsin Elections are rigged.

We disavow the GAB.

[Scuba]

36. +1 Zillion

[Greybnk48]

42. Yup. Something's rotten in WI

with our elections and Gerrymandering/redistricting.

[NYC_SKP]

4. Don't forget Rhode Island!

And I even lived there for a while, unbelievable!

[gaspee]

19. What about RI?

We have a supermajorty in the house and senate, all of our national elected pols are dems and our governor is an independent. I think you didn't get the point of this OP.

[NYC_SKP]

49. Rhode Island is home to bigots, gun nuts, homophobes and sexist haters.

Just like every other state.

You must have missed how this whole series of threads about stupid states started.

A member who, judging by their username comes from or lives in R.I., called out South Carolina as "stupid".

It's considered a regional slur and would have been locked or deleted by moderators back in the day.

[gaspee]

63. I did miss the start

Yeah, but not in the same proportion as other places. I've lived in San Francisco, RI (born and raised,) rural west Texas and Northern Florida. Texas and Florida certainly outdid both RI and San Francisco in all the mentioned types of people, by far. By so far, it's like living in a different reality. It's one of the reasons I moved back to RI. Couldn't afford SF and can barely afford RI, but you couldn't pay me to live in those other places again, as a gay, gender non-conforming, white female.

[NYC_SKP]

73. California is ginormous.

And SF not at all representative, but that it was.

After all, this state passed Prop 8 and is home to Free Republic and the likes of former US Reps Randy Cunningham and Richard Pombo.

I lived in Westerly RI for about a year. It's a smaller state but still diverse. Providence alone is very diverse but arguably not as diverse as California due to size alone.

I did like Westerly but winter sure did creep up suddenly the year I was there, 1986.

[Warpy]

5. People who arent political junkies

and rely on the evening news on the teevee to inform them are easy to fool.

That's the problem. Something has to be done about our supine corporate media.

[FrodosPet]

21. So what DO you do?

All the time, I am reading and hearing "SOMETHING" has to be done about this and that.

But what? Any ideas?

I guess that is for others to come up with. Our job is to say "Something has to be done", and then rely on others to come up with the something.

[lunatica]

45. The media needs to do it's job, the way they used to do it

That's something that should be done, but if you have any ideas how that's going to happen please do tell. See, people know what the problems are and what should be done. But it's a horse of an altogether different color on how to actually make it happen. The media is now privatized. Owned by billionaires and corporations and therefore they must do what their bosses tell them to do.

Isn't privatization wonderful?

[Old and In the Way]

6. LePage was elected with 38% of the vote.

Indies/Democrats split the rest. That won't happen again.

[Maine-ah]

32. on top of that

we put democrats back in majority during the last election. The OP didn't do his/her research. LePage will be ousted the next governors election.

[Half-Century Man]

7. Wisconsin got a chance to undo a mistake...

...and we dropped the ball..or dropped something on our balls...or got drop kicked in the balls...I blacked out, so I don't remember.

[Scuba]

37. Please see Post #2.

[Skittles]

8. Texas is VERY, VERY stupid

[ananda]

40. Yep: Ted Cruz, Mike McCaul, Dan Patrick ...

... and so many other Reep goons.

[Skittles]

75. there so many dumb fucks in Texas

but I gotta say, when you find liberals / progressives / Dems in Texas, the are SERIOUSLY TRUE BLUE!!! We are a HARDY BUNCH!!!

[snooper2]

56. But at least we know how to grill!

[krispos42]

9. Hey! Minnesota is the ONLY state that didn't go for Reagan in '84.

Let's not forget that!







_{And let's forget Jesse Ventura}

[mnmoderatedem]

60. largely, actually probably exclusively, because Mondale was from Minnesota(nt)

nt

[krispos42]

61. Shhhh!

Let's keep that hidden, too!

[mnmoderatedem]

62. heh :)

actually that's nothing to be ashamed of. By 1984 the Reagan koolaid was so prevelant in the American public bloodstream that I don't think it would have mattered who we nominated.

Still, I always get a kick out of the Simpsons episode where they are having a flashback to 1984, and watching the democratic debates on TV, when Mondale made his high profile "Where's the Beef" comment to (I think) John Glenn.

Homer chuckles to himself and exclaims, "Where's the beef. No wonder he carried Minnesota."

(Mondale carried only Minnesota and District of Columbia)

[Chellee]

10. You forgot Indiana.

All those states WISH they were as stupid as Indiana.

I mean seriously... Indiana is home to Mike Pence (Abortion Causes Breast Cancer), Mitch Daniels (accepted here as a fiscal conservative because he was Bush II budget director), Dan Quayle (Lord, there are too many quotes to put here), the list goes on and on.

Dan Burton (stupid and hypocritical), Mark Souder (REALLY stupid and INCREDIBLY hypocritical), Bob Morris (girl scouts = lesbians), Charlie White (voter fraud laws only apply to Democrats), and don't forget Richard @#$%& Mourdock (Rape - God intended that to happen).

And all the little worker bees, the ones that don't make headlines, those Indiana Republicans are going out of their way to be exceptionally vile to women, children, families, workers, the poor, the middle class, LGBT, the sick, the elderly, teachers (Wow! They hate teachers.), minorities, immigrants, and on and on in a never ending stream of hatefulness, divisiveness and bigotry.



Nobody leaves Indiana off a list of idiocy! Indiana has EARNED its place on that list.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

12. Indiana used to say they wouldn't honor Daylight Saving Time...

The farmers said they didn't want to have to get up an hour earlier.

[Apophis]

11. The only reason MN 6th keeps voting for Bachmann is because

It's been heavily redistricted to favor Republicans.

[delrem]

15. So MN has redistributed *dumb*

How could that be possible if the state itself weren't overwhelmingly dumb?

[Apophis]

44. Touché.

[LuckyLib]

77. And, suburban Republicans have increased in MN in the last decade.

Folks spreading out of the metro area as it grows in diversity, raising families in areas that tend to reflect conservative perspectives, with big box churches and "got mine" attitudes. I must say, I had to tone down my criticism of Texas once Bachmann was on the scene, as it was clear MN had its own whack-a-doodle.

[MrScorpio]

13. Welcome to MY world!

Too many dumbasses running around the Great Lakes State

[MiddleFingerMom]

14. Yo mama is SO stupid...

[Unknown Beatle]

16. What all of you fail to realize

is that repugs continue to steal elections. They have the technology in place to do their dirty deeds. Just because they're not national elections doesn't mean they're not stealing local and state elections. It's easier to get away with because the repugs won't be as scrutinized.

As a matter of fact, I'm fairly certain they continue to steal elections.

[Liberal Veteran]

68. Yes and no. While I don't doubt there is chicanery, people are actually voting that way a lot.

I grew up in the south and visit frequently enough to get a feel for the kind of political leanings of people in the region. Trust me. The south isn't a republican stronghold because of election theft.

[WhaTHellsgoingonhere]

17. remember, Walker was recalled and won that, too!

[RudynJack]

18. Howzabout

we stop calling states/regions/cities/whatever stupid?

Why not recognize this is a diverse country with differing priorities and beliefs, and work from there, rather than just saying "we're better than them".

If you read the right-wing sites, they do the same exact thing. It leads to nothing productive.

[Seeking Serenity]

39. ^^ This!

^
^
^

[cali]

20. well, Maine was a 3 way race so they should get a pass

other than that, fair point

[Fumesucker]

22. Bless your heart..

[magical thyme]

23. 62% of Maine's voters voted *against* Gov. 38% LePage

That the democratic vote was split between the official dem candidate with 20% and the former dem turned indie candidate with 37% was due less to Maine's stupidity than Maine not totally buying into official, pre-selected candidates.

It was a 5 or 6-way race, with the dem turned Indie Elliot Cutler collecting 37% to LePage's 38%. If just a small percentage of the die-hard Dems had noticed that their candidate was stuck at 20% in the final weeks had no chance and chosen to vote for the dem turned indie, we would not have LePage.

So call that election a wake-up call and lesson learned. When Olympia's seat opened up and well-liked dem-leaning independent Angus King decided to run, the dem party's top-tier prospects decided not to run. The Senate got another independent that caucuses with the dems *and* we kept Pingree in the house, so good deal all around.

I read last week that Cutler may run again.

[RandiFan1290]

24. Awww don't be so hard on yourselves

That southern brilliance is starting to takeover the entire country and we can finally get to where we deserve to be!!!

Feel better?

[HughBeaumont]

25. SlowHio: Despite Sherrod Brown and Marcy Kaptur, We're Still A Sea of Tea.

Kat$hit is one awful governor and he's likely going to be re-elected because this state is backwards.

[burnodo]

26. Who is trashing southern Democrats?

That other thread talks specifically about South Carolina in general

[RandiFan1290]

27. Mention any southern state and they throw a fit

Except for Florida.

[graham4anything]

29. Charlie Crist for Governor.

[RandiFan1290]

30. You will have to ask someone else to vote for the repub

I will not.




In 2010 I voted for the DEMOCRATIC candidate

[graham4anything]

33. Charlie is a democratic candidate who can win this time. Charlie spit in Jeb's face,noone else did

Charlie couragously spit in Jeb's face, and Jeb is the reason for all the anti-Charlie stuff in Florida.

and Meek was the 1% of the time. He never was serious candidate, because the democratic party thought Charlie would win. All Meek was was the Nader.
He should have not campaigned as the democratic party asked him too.

Whereas the idiots in NJ last time should have voted for the esteemed Jon Corzine. I did.
There was no third party.
It was whiners like Bill Bradley, who dribbled his ball and left the arena, M.I.A. now for years since he attempted to overthrow Al Gore in 2000 (and do you know, had Bill not run, it is quite likely that Paul Wellstone would have been Al Gore's VP in 2000, not Joe Lieberman.
But the fracture/ego after the primaries of course meant Paul couldn't have been picked.
Al Gore was going for history with a Jewish VP, Paul could have been the one, and perhaps history would have changed.

BTW-if Crist is the democratic nominee, there is no need to post those other pictures.
I am sure you will vote straight democratic in the november election, right?
Or do you want Jeb back in the White House.
Any fracture can lead to Jeb.

Hillary45/Napolitano Hillary45/Sebelius Hillary45/Biden 2016 Hillary45/Michelle46

to continue the agenda of Barack Obama forever.

[RandiFan1290]

34. Wall of text crits for over 9000!

[graham4anything]

35. just say no to fresh whine. There are 2 choices-either to whine or to win

to whine and not win is to lose.

Quite simple.

[tabbycat31]

48. Actually there was an independent in NJ in 2009.

Chris Daggett ran as an independent in 2009, and one of the environmental groups endorsed him over Corzine. Had he not run (and his voters deflected to Corzine), Christie would not be governor.

http://nj.gov/state/elections/election-results/2009-official-general-election-gov-lt-gov-tallies-120109.pdf

[NCTraveler]

69. I, along with many others, will never vote for "for the people" Crist.

"BTW-if Crist is the democratic nominee, there is no need to post those other pictures.
I am sure you will vote straight democratic in the november election, right?"

You can vote straight D without voting for Mr Morgan and Morgan.


He is as low as a politician comes. He has no principals at all. I will not advocate against him, but will sure as hell not vote for him. Call it what you want. If anyone votes for him, they are not voting for a democrat.

[NCTraveler]

66. "In 2010 I voted for the DEMOCRATIC candidate"

And what a great Democratic candidate he was. I love him and am disgusted at what the party did to him in that election. He brought principled ideas to the table and the party supported someone else. In a state like Florida the ideas need to win the day. I would rather see an honest debate between a con and a true democrat than what happened. He was the clear winner in the debates, but the party screwed him(us). Support for a republican was even allowed here. How bad was that. Yes, I am still holding a grudge.

[RandiFan1290]

72. I hold a grudge as well

That was when DU jumped the shark.

[graham4anything]

28. Democrats don't do well in mid terms/special. Repubs stick together, 3rdparty/protest fracture

It can't be said enough

If this were 2016, and Hillary was creaming the opposition in the general, Colbert would have won a landslide.

Republicans base elections on the world is ending, the world is ending, and the most strident voters (the 20% all show up and vote.

And Colbert made a name for herself, now she MUST stay in politics and run for office again.
Senate or Governor.
If she doesn't run again, it comes off as a vanity run

And it is very hard to win districts that are historically won by republicans.

Stupid was Ralph Nader. If one wants to call someone stupid, it was Ralph.
His outright sell out and lies gave us this supreme court.

Now, too bad Jim McGreevey, has found a new calling in life.
Too bad the public in a liberal state, forced him to resign in the first place.
He should have stayed and fought, and had he stayed, Christie never would have become governor in the first place.

[burnodo]

31. except 2006 I would guess

nt

[Recursion]

38. How about listening to voters rather than calling them stupid?

Do you have any non-caricature views of why people voted for them? Do you care?

[Puzzledtraveller]

41. No, they don't care.

This attitude is so prevalent now it's like we are becoming what we despise. Insensitive, rude, mean spirited.

[NYC_SKP]

50. Here:

I think this OP is a reaction to this other OP:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=2811951

[bklyncowgirl]

43. In defense of New Jersey, my current home state, blame the state Democrats & Mother Nature.

Christie ran against John Corzine, a man chosen by the Democratic machine over the popular but impecunious interim governor John Codey, mainly because he could 'self-finance'. Corzine, in his one term as governor, managed to make himself universally despised. I'm a loyal a Democrat as you're likely to find, but even I had to wash my hand after voting for Corzine's re-election.

Christie was well on his way to becoming an unpopular one term wonder, when a giant wind named hurricane Irene swept in and saved his political bacon. Christie yelled "Get the hell off the beach." and New Jersey fell in love. He proved himself a good disaster manager and his poll numbers soared. Next year, Mother Nature sent us an even bigger wind, Hurricane Sandy, and once again Christie's good management of the crisis and his timely embrace of President Obama, won him rave reviews even among Democrats. Even I think he did a good job on Sandy relief and I do not praise Republicans easily.

Now, despite lagging economic numbers in our state, Christie's pretty much unbeatable. I'll do my duty and vote for whatever sacrificial lamb the Democratic party puts up but it's pretty much a lost cause. We're stuck with the guy for four more years unless, God forbid, he gets elected president.

[tabbycat31]

70. I'm not normally a fan of primarying incumbents

But if there ever was one who needed it, his name is Jon Corzine. He was a Goldman Sachs CEO in a day and age where Wall Street was toxic. He had low approval ratings (IMO Obama should have tapped him for treasury in 09).

There were several Democrats who could have primaried him and won, but with his net worth, everyone was afraid to. Someone else would have beat Christie.

[ProSense]

47. "New Jersey (my state): Elected Republican Chris Christie as governor."

Yeah, after people spent the entiire campaign convincing Democrats that Corzine was worse and other people bought Christie's bullshit lie about property taxes. Now, the rest of us have to live with the monster that election created.

He sucks, but we're stuck.

[JustAnotherGen]

55. Amen ProSense Amen

And I truly don't believe it is in the bag just yet . . .

God help me - Please let the unemployment rate stay right where it is at. I think Tweety Bird could run on that platform and beat Christie.

And yesterday I notice how everyone wanted to show 'compassion' for Chris Christie and his weight loss surgery. You know what? I subsidize that jackhammer's health insurance while he ROBS teachers, police officers, etc. etc. in this state of what they EARNED for their many years of service.

And even at DU - we had SOUTHERNERS chastising us for wanting to make sure he didn't use insurance for that. Must be nice Mr. I Cut Health Care for Poor Women in NJ.

Sorry - any chance I get to spread the hate on Christie -I will.

[FSogol]

71. +1. The fact that people here admire Christie and defend him at every turn is disgusting. n/t

[JustAnotherGen]

74. Thank you

And that shouldn't be allowed. yesterday I asked someone to 'help us' and linked to Buono.

We need your help. You want to send a strong message across America? Help us send Christie to hell in November.

[geek tragedy]

51. People aren't trashing southern Democrats. Indeed, they're an

endangered species, entitled to protection.

The problem is that the South, especially white Southerners, are radical rightwing Republicans.

It's no mystery that Southern white men are the most hostile group in the country towards our black President.

Note that Democrats never win in the South, except for Virginia and the governorship of Arkansas. Florida is half Northeast in culture, so it doesn't count.

[rdharma]

52. "The problem is that the South, especially white Southerners, are radical rightwing Republicans."

I live in NC and I'm not offended when someone points out the FACT that the south has a lot of mean stupid crazy racist RWers!

Those are the facts, Jack!

[geek tragedy]

54. Obama got under 20% of the white vote in several southern states.

Mississippi: 10%
Alabama: 15%
North Carolina: 31%
Florida: 37%
Virginia: 37%
National average: 39%
Ohio: 41%
Michigan: 44%
Minnesota: 48%
Wisconsin: 48%
Iowa: 51%

http://firstread.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/11/19/15279137-first-thoughts-my-my-myanmar?lite

[Recursion]

53. The MS House delegation was majority blue until 2010

It's not as simple as you're making it sound

[geek tragedy]

57. The MS House delegation was an anachronism--

legacy Democrats from the era when Republicans were associated with Abraham Lincoln. And, any white Democrats typically voted with Republicans most often (e.g. Gene Taylor).

MS House Delegation is now de facto racially segregated. Mississippi blacks are represented by Bennie Thompson and Mississippi whites are represented by 3 rightwing Republicans.

[Recursion]

58. I don't buy that. We can find another Gene Taylor

even if we can't find another Sonny Montgomery.

[geek tragedy]

59. Obama got 10% of the white vote in Mississippi.

10%.

The GOP is a white nationalist party, and Mississippi whites dig that kind of thing.

[CRK7376]

64. Hey you left out

Sanford and SC, along with my state, NC and Crazy Foxx lady in the House and R Burr in the Senate...

[bullwinkle428]

65. Iowa : We've elected Steve King and Charles Grassley to Congress

multiple times.

[Liberal Veteran]

67. Is it ever okay to discuss a region's consistent voting habits then?

What is this silly shit that causes people to flip the fuck out because someone wasn't precise enough to exclude certain people from a statement on the voting habits of a region?

It seems to me that people are just too damned thin skinned and overly prideful about geographic location. If someone says, people in rural areas of "insert southern state here" tend to be easily led down the garden path, it doesn't mean everyone or you and your group of friends in particular.

We pretend to be grown-ups here. How about we start acting like it and not look for reasons to be offended all the time?

[wryter2000]

76. And I might add

My state, CA, gave the country Ronald Reagan. And we're still stuck with awful Prop H8 when all sorts of other states are moving toward marriage equality. And the stoopid voters voted that piece of crap into existence.

[muntrv]

78. Don't blame me, I voted for Virg Brenero in 2010. Never bought the "1 tough nerd" act.

[1gobluedem]

79. Me either

Or the "moderate outsider" schtick. I tried to warn people that a candidate who refuses to debate or reveal a platform is up to no good. How right I was.