What makes NH the only Red state in the region? (Manchester: fit in, transplants)

[wehotex]

All of the states except New Hampshire are reliably blue in the presidential elections except New Hampshire. What characteristics make it different than the other states? is your history that much different than your neighboring states?

[Brave Stranger]

Originally Posted by wehotex

All of the states except New Hampshire are reliably blue in the presidential elections except New Hampshire. What characteristics make it different than the other states? is your history that much different than your neighboring states?

This is just my pet theory.....but without a sales & income tax NH citizens have always felt more free, and in control of their government. Our state reps & senators really are, for the most part, just part time folks. We only pay them $100 a year. They get no pensions. The national Republican party is "somewhat" the party of small government and low taxes, so lol, that's my 2 cents worth

[wehotex]

Originally Posted by Brave Stranger

This is just my pet theory.....but without a sales & income tax NH citizens have always felt more free, and in control of their government. Our state reps & senators really are, for the most part, just part time folks. We only pay them $100 a year. They get no pensions. The national Republican party is "somewhat" the party of small government and low taxes, so lol, that's my 2 cents worth

if you don't have sales & income taxes, how does gov't rob its citizens then?

[Brave Stranger]

Originally Posted by wehotex

if you don't have sales & income taxes, how does gov't rob its citizens then?

We have very low taxes on ciggs and beer & spirits which pull in people from border states so that helps. We use to be the only state in America that had a lotto which really helped. We have high property taxes (which can be controlled at the town level unlike state-wide taxes) but we get by. We are the 49th lowest taxed state in the USA. We also have no capital gains tax on a state level, or no death tax. We are a very happy state in many respects

[WannaComeHome]

Hi Wehotex,

I think some of it is also our 'Live Free or Die' mentality - we just don't care what the states around us think, and we feel that people need to be responsible for themselves and not rely on gov't to nanny them along. At the moment, I believe the state legislature is Democratically controlled and they have been trying to sneak some nanny laws in, but I think most people tend to vote them out. And the govt doesn't try to 'rob' the people that much, because it isn't provide all that much. It kicks in for schools and takes care of state roads. We just don't need all that much!

[Verseau]

I wouldn't go so far as to call NH a "red state," especially since the whole red state - blue state dichotomy is ridiculous (if you look at election maps like this one, you will see that there are Republican-leaning and Democratic-leaning areas in every state).

If anything, I would consider NH a moderate or swing state. We vote Republican more than our neighbours because of the strong "live free or die" libertarian mentality that exists here, which has traditionally aligned us moreso with Republicans, particularly on economic issues. However, New Hampshirites tend to be less socially conservative than Republicans in other parts of the US, and I think that a lot of "big government" policies on the national level in the past few years explain the backlash against the party in 2006.

I would also keep in mind that New England was the stronghold of the Republican party during its infancy in the 1800s, when the party was anti-slavery, pro-federalism, pro-trade, etc. The northern Democrats, who distanced themselves from the southern Democrats during the Civil War, relied primarily on urban immigrants as party recruits, particularly the Irish. Since political affiliations are often passed down through the family, this helps explain why more urban areas of New England (like Boston) continue to lean towards the Democratic party.

Some historically Republican, rural areas of NE, like Vermont, would experience an influx of ex-urbanites much later, giving that state some of its Democratic leanings. New Hampshire appears unique in that it seems to have kept its political traditions. Even though the state has experienced a lot of immigration from Massachusetts, it seems to me that the majority of transplants are people who felt they would fit in better politically in NH (the southern suburbs are some of the most strongly Republican towns in the state).

Of course, that's not to suggest that NH is some bastion of Republicanism. The party has changed a lot since the 1800s (it absorbed the socially conservative and states rights views of the Dixiecrats when they switched parties). At any rate, I'm glad that NH has a fair amount of political diversity.

[wehotex]

Originally Posted by Brave Stranger

We have very low taxes on ciggs and beer & spirits which pull in people from border states so that helps. We use to be the only state in America that had a lotto which really helped. We have high property taxes (which can be controlled at the town level unlike state-wide taxes) but we get by. We are the 49th lowest taxed state in the USA. We also have no capital gains tax on a state level, or no death tax. We are a very happy state in many respects

congrats on your low tax status! i think that i like your state's ways.

[Brave Stranger]

Originally Posted by wehotex

congrats on your low tax status! i think that i like your state's ways.

In my opinion it's all about controlling state spending. We don't have enough state income sources to grow the the state government. We have a built-in deficit every year on purpose so that we never get lazy. It's not perfect, but it beats the endless taxes that you see in the bigger states.

[GregW]

New Hampshire has been Republican and conservative due to a long (60+ years), focused and continuous propaganda campaign led by the state’s largest newspaper The Manchester Union Leader (the Union refers to the Civil War Union not to any labor group). This paper was, along with its associated television station, a bastion of the “live free or die” slogan that actually meant tax the poor and not the rich.

This is changing as many more people are buying either regional newspapers from northern Massachusetts or the Boston Globe. Given these alternative views the Democratic Party with its much more realistic views on the role of government and the taxation needed to support these functions (principally a levelization of school funding through a broad base tax) has been reflecting the considerable changes in the electorate.

New Hampshire funds most of the state government with user fees (the Fish and Game dept survives on boating and Hunting/fishing fees), guest taxes (an 8%+ sales tax on rooms and meals) and our famous “sin” taxes (the state has a monopoly on hard liquor sales and a lower cigarette tax than the neighbors). I have seen the State liquor store on I-93 (yeah we have booze stores with there own exits off the main north/south expressway) crowded with cars from other states buying discounted whiskey in case lots. The state also has a dividends and interest tax.

In order to provide state aid, as required in the state constitution, to the school systems in principally the collapsing ex-industrial cities and very rural areas, I think we should institute a progressive state income tax on all income from all sources over twice the state median income. This would put the burden of educating all the children on the people that are likeliest to benefit from a well educated workforce.

[nocturnal rooster]

It's not really a Red state anymore. Obama is slightly ahead of McCain in New Hampshire in the polls.