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Maybe this is being commented on elsewhere at DU, but as a geographer I just have to weigh in.
Red states have gained 11 electoral votes since 2000 and only lost 3. Blue states have lost 9 electoral votes and only gained 1 (in California).
Migration within the country has created a margin almost the size of Ohio. People aren't leaving New York or moving to Texas because they are Republican. There are probably plenty of DUers who would take a great job in their field even if it happened to be in Mississippi. In fact, the recent in-migrants (except, perhaps for retirees) are likely a bit more liberal than the average American, since liberal politics and a geographically wide-ranging job search are both correlates of education.
But their numbers are added to a reliable base, and whatever new ideas they bring to the red states are not converted into electoral votes.
Any thoughts, beyond the obvious/impossible--secession, abolishing the electoral college, etc--about how we should respond to this trend? Should we be working on our blue states--making them more attractive places to stay--or should we be moving to red states and transforming them?
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