http://voices.washingtonpost.com/thefix/morning-fix/gallup-republican-states.html
Posted at 7:00 AM ET, 02/22/2011
Swing states on the rise heading into 2012
By CHeading into the 2012 presidential election, the number of solidly Democratic states has been cut in half as compared to 2008, numbers that suggest that the next national election could well be considerably closer than the last one.
According to Gallup polling data from all 50 states, the number of solidly Democratic states has declined from 30 in 2008 to just 14 in 2010. (Any state where one side has a double-digit edge in party affiliation is defined by Gallup as "solid" for that party.)
Of the 16 states that moved out of the "solidly Democratic" column over the past two years, 12 of them are now defined as "competitive" -- where the two sides are separated by less than five points on the party affiliation question -- while three are rated by Gallup as "lean Democratic" (a Democratic party affiliation advantage of between five and ten points).
New Hampshire is the lone state that swung from solidly Democratic to lean Republican over the past two years; during that time Democratic affiliation dropped by 11.3 percentage points in the Granite State.”
Cassi Creek:
The American employment picture is like the remains of “No Name City” of “Paint Your Wagon” notoriety. Look in any direction and you will see the wealthy leaving town while the dreams of the gold miners sink into the mud and muck that is their job market.
To continue the analogy, the gold strike has played out and there is no more. The miners know it and are planning to follow the pack to the next strike. The ancillary jobs that spring up around gold strikes or any boom town/industry have been packed up to move to the next strike. There may be the few random jobs that result from people’s inability to follow the herd yet another time.
The ugly truth is that the gold and the jobs are played out and they aren’t coming back. No Name City is slated to become just another ghost town, a cemetery of dreams and ambition like hundreds of others that dot the American landscape. Mill towns in the North East and the Appalachians, military towns abandoned by the bases that gave them life, factory towns in the rust belt, mining towns in the mountains; they’re all losing hope as the jobs vanish.
The saddest part of the equation is that many of the formerly employed believed the GOPer/teavangelist propaganda during the last election and voted for their sacrificial status. They believed the myth that extending the Bush tax cuts would somehow magically cause jobs to be created as the wealthy became even more wealthy. Despite 2 decades of tax cuts for the rich, there has been a steady flow of jobs from our shores to those of other nations. The recipients of GOP paybacks pass their gratitude on to the citizens by exporting jobs as rapidly and as permanently as they can.
“Paint Your Wagon” displays what may well be the only example of trickledown economics that works. The hero and the anti-heroes set about recovering gold dust that trickles down from bar and counter tops, carelessly spilled during transactions. Even that little bit of recovered gold comes as high expense, rapidly plays out, and requires the use of practices that are, at best, marginally ethical and marginally legal.
We are living 150 years in the future from the mythical “No Name City.” Then, as now, trickledown economics was shortsighted, short-lived, and largely an act of pure economic fiction. What hasn’t changed is the greed that drives politicians to sell out to corporations, the politicians’ willingness to lie to the public in order to remain in office, or the voters’ failure to question politicians about the failure to deliver the jobs and/or other items they promised that happens over and over.
The gold vein has played out. The camp followers have packed up their mirrors and gaming tables, closed the brothels, and headed for the next strike. The politicians are still spouting lies and trying to get that last dollar from your pocket before they start repeating the same old lies over again.
“No Name City” is quite a lot bigger this time around. The forces of religion-driven pseudo morality have a bit tighter grip on the folks who went bust and who can’t afford to paint their wagon one more time. The gold is in the hands of the already wealthy, where it will stay. The jobs were a lie from the beginning, promised only to hook the voters into believing that the politicians are capable of telling them the truth.
It’s 2011 now, and “I hear they’re hiring at a new plant in … Scrounge up the money for gasoline and throw everything into the car! They’re getting rich now that the tax cuts are creating jobs!”
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