[Tiger Beer]

Michigan is a Blue State? How?

I'm always surprised that MI generally goes blue in the general election. But, most people in MI, seem to run conservative, seem to lean more tea party thinking, rush limbaugh, and all the rest...

Is anyone else surprised that MI manages to be a blue state despite that? I can't think of anything progressive about MI. Ann Arbor seems to be the anomoly.

[HarryBTL]

Originally Posted by Tiger Beer

Michigan is a Blue State? How?

I'm always surprised that MI generally goes blue in the general election. But, most people in MI, seem to run conservative, seem to lean more tea party thinking, rush limbaugh, and all the rest...

Is anyone else surprised that MI manages to be a blue state despite that? I can't think of anything progressive about MI. Ann Arbor seems to be the anomoly.

Not really. I too use to think that.
MI is not where you find your *typical conservative* types. Most are more mod conservative socially NOT Tea Party and or very socially conservative aka religious types. Sure there is a decent tea party presence but that too is mostly found in the western part of the state except for areas like here ( Battle Creek and especially Kalamazoo which now favors D's over the R's ) and a few others. Most of them are more on the Pro gun/hunting/property rights side not the crazy religious side. Ofcourse you do have some of them especially in the more rural areas. Detroit City/Detroit area is also a dem strong hold which is also what has helped the most to push MI into the D side as the area contains most of the population. The tea party types here is more about government size/over reach vs the religious types that it is more known for elsewhere via the msm etc and THEY are the ones who will vote for any R over a D. In short Michigan is not as socially conservative as a number of other places which tends to favor the GOP. Keep in mind too that dems have been good for Unions which there is alot of in this state and one of the reasons it tends to go into the D column come election time for President.

Sorry to break it to you but not all conservatives are like we see plastered on the tv every day. Truth be told most of them are neoconservative ( alot of these same people are the religious types too now ) and not fiscally conservative and thus note the lousy GOP candidates ( outside of Ron Paul i suppose ) who is anything but conservative from a small government minded/fiscal stand point. See our governor who is fiscally conservative but not as much socially conservative except where guns are concerned. Reasons why this state is making a huge turn around fiscally and economically. We also now have the first high speed rail service ( From Chicago to Kalamazoo for now but soon to be Detroit and eventually Canada via Toronto and Montreal ) outside the NE Corridor etc thanks to both the governor and as well the others in Lansing and president. While dems in this state itself have generally sucked ( see our lousy former governor for starters )the dem presidents have been for the most part good to/for this state. And that coming from a conservative ( fiscally minded conservative that is ) mind you. I can assure you though if the governor was to start acting like say Rick Santorum or say the governor of WI he would be gone come next election.

Pretty sure this state will once again go to Obama and if the governor runs again he will win too.

[johnr83]

It really depends on where you live and where you work.

Wayne, Oakland, Macomb and Washtenaw counties tend to vote democratic and everywhere else (with the exception of Genesee county and the UP) tend to vote republican. There's enough voters in southeast Michigan to give us two democratic senators, and we usually vote democratic for president. On the other hand, when it comes to state and local politics, you see a lot more republicans.

Ann Arbor is in-your-face progressive and people in that city are only allowed to think a certain way. Progressives elsewhere tend to be more open and tolerant to other points of view, so you might interpret that as being "conservative."

[zthatzmanz28]

How could Michigan be anything but blue? AT least when you look at the overall composition of the state. It was built on the backs of the blue-collar folks. Labor is what has made Michigan what it was. Politics has made Michigan what it is.
I am always confused that people would think just because the labor industries are down, that working people will jump ship and go neo-conservative and seek salvation from the very folks who would destroy their way of earning a living.
Say what you want about the blue-collar community, but they are dedicated to work, family and their community. They know that when the snake-oil sales people roll into town promising to light up the end of the tunnel it is just the newest form of spin doctoring and all that changes by accepting the toxic tonic is increased production, reduction in labor force and sky rocketing PROFITS.

Game on..let the flaming begin.

[VM1138]

I think you're all missing the mark. Nearly every country goes red come election time. Only the major cities (Lansing, Detroit, Flint and Saginaw) go blue, but there's enough people there to swing the election each time. Grand Rapids is the only major city that doesn't vote Democrat, I think.

And that is because of union tradition and strength in Detroit, and the cabal of Democrats who control every aspect of government and therefore education and culture there.

[ram2]

Originally Posted by zthatzmanz28

How could Michigan be anything but blue? AT least when you look at the overall composition of the state. It was built on the backs of the blue-collar folks. Labor is what has made Michigan what it was. Politics has made Michigan what it is.
I am always confused that people would think just because the labor industries are down, that working people will jump ship and go neo-conservative and seek salvation from the very folks who would destroy their way of earning a living.
Say what you want about the blue-collar community, but they are dedicated to work, family and their community. They know that when the snake-oil sales people roll into town promising to light up the end of the tunnel it is just the newest form of spin doctoring and all that changes by accepting the toxic tonic is increased production, reduction in labor force and sky rocketing PROFITS.

Game on..let the flaming begin.

How did 8 years of Granholm improve Michigan?

[malamute]

Michigan is very liberal in my opinion and look how many people are happily living off food stamps and other government handouts. Those who love the welfare programs more than working for a living will vote for the politicians who promise them more. Also don't forget how very unionized Michigan is.

[animatedmartian]

I think Michigan is pretty moderate and only swings slightly to either side on varying issues and certain election years. Like other posters have said, the rural areas and the UP are more Republican and the college towns and Detroit are more Democrat.

And since metro Detroit is like 4 million of Michigan's 9 million total population (just under half), it doesn't seem surprising that that's would how the representation would turn out.

Actually, this map sorta shows that Michigan is pretty purple (based on voter percentages for the 2008 election).

http://www-personal.umich.edu/~mejn/...urpler1024.png

[redgoast]

See that big red/orange area in the southeast? They tend to vote for democrats. In 2000 there were about 3,903,377 people there.

we have about 9,876,187 people in the state. So that metro area alone holds about 2/5ths of the states population. All it takes is about 2,000,000 other people in the state to vote democrat...

GR city proper tends to be liberal though the surrounding areas are very socially conservative. case in point, Santorum won Kent county in the most recent primary.

Of course this is a generalization because not every person in that area votes Democrat but it does show population densities and understanding political leanings in any given area you see the pattern... and politicians know where to focus their efforts... Remember it's majority rules.

[johnr83]

Originally Posted by malamute

Michigan is very liberal in my opinion and look how many people are happily living off food stamps and other government handouts. Those who love the welfare programs more than working for a living will vote for the politicians who promise them more. Also don't forget how very unionized Michigan is.

lol you're the people the OP is talking about.

Mississippi is extremely Republican, yet most of the people there are living off food stamps and welfare.... there's absolutely no correlation between political views and whether or not you're receiving benefits and you know that