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Paul Ryan: I Didn't Lose on the Issues, I Lost Because of Black People

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Dark_Falcon11/13/2012 11:27:18 am PST

re: #171 HappyWarrior

Debs did his best in fact in rural states like Montana, Idaho, and others. I agree the Southern Strategy is what explains this more than anything.

I’d say it’s also two other facts:

1. Democrats became seen as more urban and some rural people, especially in the Mountain West (also called Far West) identify themselves in opposition to large cities.

2. The rise of environmentalism as a part of the left. This may seem counter intuitive, for why wouldn’t someone in North Dakota want his state’s prairies protected? The answer is: Become he’d rather make money selling stuff to the people drilling for oil on the land instead and the environmentists would like to keep those people from drilling.