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plus Ohio, was a union state with all the rubber industry for years. I think it still is, more than Indiana, but yes, they are both very midwestern.
Not just rubber, and you indirectly hit on the reason. If Ohio didnt have Toledo and the old Western Reserve (NE Ohio, the Cleveland/Akron/Youngtown area and nearby counties) and "Applachian Ohio" it would be swining more red.
They really aren't all that differently politically.
I see it prety much the same; Indiana isn't as controlled by unions but Ohio certainly isn't to the left of left and btw, anyone who thinks this has anything to do with education might want to examine some of the schools in Indiana? Remember it isn't a huge state and last time I checked both the University of Indiana and Purdue were pretty highly rated...In fact Purdue is one of the top engineering scholls in the counry..
Can someone tell me why Iowa is so different from Indiana politically? Seems like both states are largely rural, are in the mid-west, and have an agrarian economy. Yet Iowa is always a swing state (or leans Democrat), while Indiana is largely Republican.
Iowa is full of people that are of Dutch and Scandinavian descent, and these people tend to be much more socially liberal than most.
If you don't believe me, head up I-35 to the next state where everyone's last name ends in "son", "sen" or "berg".
To be honest, it has a lot to do with culture. There are a lot of different ways to explore this... such as religious attitudes, accents, etc.
In short, though, Indiana overall is more culturally related to Kentucky than it is any other state. Sure you have the Chicago burbs which of course fall in line with Chicago.... South Bend is a conservative hot bed because of Notre Dame, and Fort Wayne and surrounding areas are similar to rural southern Michigan... but everywhere else is very similar to Kentucky.
Ohio on the other hand is an industrial center of America. The culture there is much more similar to Pennsylvania and southeastern Michigan. Areas around Cincinnati of course have a southern touch to them, but it is overshadowed by most of the rest of the state. SE Ohio is more like West Virginia, but there is a lack of population there.
Iowa culturally is more similar to Minnesota and Wisconsin... these three states have always been the heart of the farmer/labour political movement which is much more left wing.
Its the ohio big city inner city type thought process. Indiana has one big city in indianapolis that for the most part acts like a old style big city not a new type. Most of indianapolis is clean and safe. Homes are well kept.
But mostly it is because we dont like goverment interveening in our lives here in indiana.
I see it prety much the same; Indiana isn't as controlled by unions but Ohio certainly isn't to the left of left and btw, anyone who thinks this has anything to do with education might want to examine some of the schools in Indiana? Remember it isn't a huge state and last time I checked both the University of Indiana and Purdue were pretty highly rated...In fact Purdue is one of the top engineering scholls in the counry..
Yeah Purdue has long been one of the great science and engineering centers of the nation. Neil Armstrong was a Purdue alum.
By contrast Ohio is mostly known for football, and maybe ballet (Rahm Emanuel went to Oberlin College in Ohio where he studied ballet). So you've got one state that values science and reason, and another that values either a)pulverizing each other or b) prancing around on tippy-toes. It's unsurprising that the former state is red, and the latter is blue.
edit--Rahm went to Sarah Lawrence College, not Oberlin. My apologies, Ohio.
Kind of interesting that Ohio is slightly pro-Obama, but Indiana is double digit Romney. Why are these two states so different?
I've never lived in either state, but I imagine both to be pretty nice Midwestern states. For some reason, I have always thought them two peas in a pod, but that is probably just from my ignorance. Are the histories and cultures really that different?
I'd love to hear some history or context from someone in that area who knows.
Thanks in advance!
Fiddlehead
The first thing to understand is Indiana and Ohio along with most midwestern states were the birthplace of the Grand Old Party which was formed by a union of Midwestern Whigs and Middle Atlantic, New York and New England Yankees. Until the Great Depression This was the solid base of the GOP from the time of Lincoln to Herbert Hoover. Indiana has never strayed from its GOP roots, Ohio has enough old line Industry in NE Ohio to make it interesting.
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