[DC at the Ridge]

Originally Posted by nmnita

AR has pretty much been a blue state with few exceptions until 2008. Now, all the way from local officials to who carries the state in presidentual elections, it is red. Things change, some for the good and some for the bad. I am sure there were many southern states into the 1970 that still had laws against blacks.

Benton County has been red since the 1960's.

[TRex2]

Originally Posted by nmnita

... It is hard to believe but it is very true. Thank goodness those days are gone.

They will be back.

History doesn't repeat itself, but it does rhyme.
-- Usually attributed to Mark Twain.

My own take is that the second half of the 20th century is an aberration. An anomaly in history. America and Europe had liberty, prosperity, and diversity that had never been seen in the world. And never will again.

The "Progressives" of today abandoned the very values that gave us those treasures, and are dismantling all of the gains of those years, while pretending to carry forward the rich traditions that created those treasures. Frankly I doubt many of them would recognize the values that gave us those treasures.

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by DC at the Ridge

Benton County has been red since the 1960's.

Yes, pretty much aware of that, but I was referring to the state overall. I am sure, part of the reason AR is so red now has to do with the growth of Benton County and possibly Washington county. That takes up a lot of the population in the state.

[sub]

Originally Posted by nmnita

Yes, pretty much aware of that, but I was referring to the state overall. I am sure, part of the reason AR is so red now has to do with the growth of Benton County and possibly Washington county. That takes up a lot of the population in the state.

The state hasn't changed much, the parties have.
"Blue" Arkansas was never "blue" as we know it today.
If anything, the newcomers have made Arkansas more moderate with larger numbers of liberals as well.

[sub]

Originally Posted by TRex2

They will be back.

History doesn't repeat itself, but it does rhyme.
-- Usually attributed to Mark Twain.

My own take is that the second half of the 20th century is an aberration. An anomaly in history. America and Europe had liberty, prosperity, and diversity that had never been seen in the world. And never will again.

The "Progressives" of today abandoned the very values that gave us those treasures, and are dismantling all of the gains of those years, while pretending to carry forward the rich traditions that created those treasures. Frankly I doubt many of them would recognize the values that gave us those treasures.

I would agree with this.
Humanity does not perpetually progress, there's more of an ebb and flow to things.
One problem I have with progressives is that they claim humanity started out as imbeciles and are continuing on to some perfect utopian future.
History would suggest otherwise.

[Sons of Scotland]

Originally Posted by nmnita

Yes, pretty much aware of that, but I was referring to the state overall. I am sure, part of the reason AR is so red now has to do with the growth of Benton County and possibly Washington county. That takes up a lot of the population in the state.

The statement that the parties have changed and not Arkansas is fairly accurate. The Democrat party prior to the 2000's would be considered relatively central on the spectrum by today's standards.

Arkansas has always had conservative viewpoints on social-moral issues. That is a major reason for the switch.

As to the influx of the Hispanic population in Arkansas...
Sometime in the late 1980's the chicken plants of Western Arkansas were in need of workers. There were a few Hispanic men that came here to work in the plants and also construction. In less than 10 years the word spread among family members and friends of family to Hispanics in California and their families flocked here. Many wanted to escape the violent neighborhoods of Southern California and the gangs.

[Bert_from_back_East]

Well, Arkansas borders Texas, which is approximately 40% Hispanic, so that must count for something.

[Mouldy Old Schmo]

Originally Posted by sub

The state hasn't changed much, the parties have.
"Blue" Arkansas was never "blue" as we know it today.
If anything, the newcomers have made Arkansas more moderate with larger numbers of liberals as well.

Reagan won Arkansas in 1980 and 1984. Bush I won in 1988. Native son Clinton won in 1992 and 1996. Bush II won in 2000 and Republicans have carried the state since then.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poli...nt_of_Arkansas

This article has a map of who won which county in 2016.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2016...on_in_Arkansas

[Mouldy Old Schmo]

Originally Posted by Bert_from_back_East

Well, Arkansas borders Texas, which is approximately 40% Hispanic, so that must count for something.

Just the northeast corner of TX, which has the smallest percentage of Hispanics.

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by sub

The state hasn't changed much, the parties have.
"Blue" Arkansas was never "blue" as we know it today.
If anything, the newcomers have made Arkansas more moderate with larger numbers of liberals as well.

Oh for heavens sake: we are talking how they vote not their views. As for the moderates and liberals, we still are electing a very large numbers of Republicans to all offices. That makes us very Red and this wasn't the case before about 10 or so years ago. This doesn't mean there were no GOP elected to office, but the number of Dem outweighed the GOP by a lot. Now it is visa versa and many of the elected official are from the NW part of AR.