Missouri vs Kansas (how do the images of the states compare?)

[GraniteStater]

Originally Posted by MarketStEl

Funny, though, that Outer_Bluegrass drew that parallel — I'm prone to map Pennsylvania and Missouri onto each other as well.

What constitutes some of that "stale negative energy" though?

[MarketStEl]

Originally Posted by GraniteStater

What constitutes some of that "stale negative energy" though?

I think that what we're talking about in both cases (and what Outer_Bluegrass was talking about) is fueled by resentment — especially resentment that much of the rest of the country (has passed them by | looks down on them | dismisses their concerns).

Not all of that disdain on the part of the urban/coastal/educated folk is IMO justified, but when that resentment gets mixed with less defensible sentiments, it can get toxic and make the disdain understandable though still not really defensible (they need to make some distinctions among the people they're disdaining). Josh Hawley is a symbol of that mainly because he got elected. Pennsylvania has yet to elevate anyone of his ilk to prominent elected office, but it's not for lack of trying (see our current gubernatorial election).

Growing up in Kansas City, I understood what causes resentment of this type — my hometown's now-departed municipal inferiority complex had a decent helping of resentment mixed in (not resentment of the MAGA type, but resentment of the "We don't get our due!" type). Now, to the extent that the resentful (in both of the states we're discussing on this slight detour) now get their resentment stoked by people feeding them lies, this version is worse than what I was talking about regarding KC.

I remember hearing a woman on a network newscast exclaim in 2016, "I want my country back!" I responded, not to her but to anyone else who would listen, "You can't have it back, because your country has no room for people like me in it." We're still fighting that fight, with the only difference being that the revanchists are better organized now.

[jas75]

Some of the grievance and resentment that is so visible in current politics and society can be traced to the fact that much of rural America (and some parts of metro America, too) is struggling to find a meaningful role for itself in the diverse, complex 21st century. With a few exceptions, states with a proportionally larger rural presence are going to have more residents subscribing to such messages - and scapegoating other groups of people whom the audience may have little interaction with on a regular basis is a tactic that has worked over and over in so many contexts. The "winner take all" aspect of politics also does polarize "red" and "blue" locations in terms of their elected officials (and policy outcomes) far beyond what the overall populace would prefer.

Generalizations aside, I think it's reasonable to say that public sentiment in Kansas and Missouri is probably not immensely different these days. Who gets elected to key offices can often be a matter of specific personalities and timing, but this can have significant consequences that last for years - and sometimes result in policy outcomes that a large share of the state's voters don't agree with, but have limited ability to change.

[SPonteKC]

Originally Posted by MarketStEl

3) Kansas has yet to elect anyone like Jeff Hawley. Sorry, it is more moderate than Missouri is now.

That's not true. The elected Kris Kobach and may do so again. And Brownback. Their Senate delegation is not more moderate than Missouri's. Their state house seems to be inhabited by grown ups, though, and Missouri's a an absolute cesspool of windowlickers, losers and jagovs.