I can't figure out my city/county

[jinxmchue]

I live in rural Minnesota.  My county, which is largely white, went to Obama, while a neighboring county with a larger population and a larger percentage of minorities went to McCain.  I just can't figure it out.  I look around and I just do not see how or why this damn place is so liberal.

[Thor]

jinx, it's rather simple. The rural areas of MN are largely Democrats. The main reason why is that many are farmers and rely on the govt handouts for their farm subsidies. They tend to be conservative Democrats, but they typically vote right along party lines.

[jinxmchue]

jinx, it's rather simple. The rural areas of MN are largely Democrats. The main reason why is that many are farmers and rely on the govt handouts for their farm subsidies. They tend to be conservative Democrats, but they typically vote right along party lines.

But there aren't that many farmers here anymore.  People now farm what used to be their neighbor's fields.

[Chris_]

I live in rural Minnesota.  My county, which is largely white, went to Obama, while a neighboring county with a larger population and a larger percentage of minorities went to McCain.  I just can't figure it out.  I look around and I just do not see how or why this damn place is so liberal.

Gene Wilder said it best in "Blazing Saddles"

You've got to remember that these are just simple farmers. These are people of the land. The common clay of the new West. You know... morons.

[MrsSmith]

Gene Wilder said it best in "Blazing Saddles"

You've got to remember that these are just simple farmers. These are people of the land. The common clay of the new West. You know... morons.

Farmers overwhelmingly vote Republican, dumb.

[Thor]

Farmers overwhelmingly vote Republican, dumb.

BS, Mrs Smith. I lived in Minnesota for 14 years. My annual hunting trips took me to some very rural areas of MN. The farmers vote Dem. The Dem party in Mn is called the DFL (Democrat Farm Labor). It's stupid, but discussing it with my conservative rural friends (not farmers), they concur, it's all because of the farm subsidies and govt handouts.

Jinx, I don't know what area you live in, but Big Lake, Becker and on to the SW is rampant with DFLers.

[Chris_]

Farmers overwhelmingly vote Republican, dumb.

Hey, don't screw up a great quote!! ;)  Apply it to the circumstance at hand! ;) ;)

[MrsSmith]

BS, Mrs Smith. I lived in Minnesota for 14 years. My annual hunting trips took me to some very rural areas of MN. The farmers vote Dem. The Dem party in Mn is called the DFL (Democrat Farm Labor). It's stupid, but discussing it with my conservative rural friends (not farmers), they concur, it's all because of the farm subsidies and govt handouts.

Jinx, I don't know what area you live in, but Big Lake, Becker and on to the SW is rampant with DFLers.

I've lived in Kansas, Nebraska, Wyoming, and Texas (and near Oklahoma.)  Why do you think all these states are always red?  It isn't the whackos in Kansas City, Omaha, Lincoln, Laramie or {insert big TX cities...way too many}, it's the farmers, ranchers, and small town voters. 

There is a Farm Union in the Kansas-Nebraska area that votes Dim...they have all of 1000 or 1200 members. 

The vast, vast majority of Midwestern farmers will study the stupid subsidies and collect what they can...but if they can dodge them by planting sunflowers or amaranth or anything else, they'd prefer to earn their money...and not leave their land fallow forever. 

If there is one thing farmers and ranchers are NOT - it's morons.  I'd like to see any non-farm-raised man or woman do the jobs farmers and ranchers do.  The pansy city slickers can't even walk through a pasture without scaring the cattle, getting cactus spines in their boots, and shooting at a horse.  I don't know what's wrong with your farmers...but we grow them different down here.

[MrsSmith]

Hey, don't screw up a great quote!!   Apply it to the circumstance at hand!

My dad was a farmer.  My grandfather was a farmer.  My great-grandfathers were farmers.  I grew up surrounded by farmers.  I met some morons...but they all came from the big city.  Not one single one on any farm.  Maybe some were bred, but farming isn't terribly safe...only the smart ones survive.

I don't know how my ancestors voted, but I can guarantee it wasn't for farm-welfare. 

[jinxmchue]

BS, Mrs Smith. I lived in Minnesota for 14 years. My annual hunting trips took me to some very rural areas of MN. The farmers vote Dem. The Dem party in Mn is called the DFL (Democrat Farm Labor). It's stupid, but discussing it with my conservative rural friends (not farmers), they concur, it's all because of the farm subsidies and govt handouts.

Jinx, I don't know what area you live in, but Big Lake, Becker and on to the SW is rampant with DFLers.

This is all true, unfortunately, and a lot of the country doesn't understand it, I think.  The Democrat politicians in MN aren't any different from those in the rest of the country, but they run under the DFL banner here, so the farmers think they need to vote for them.  A farmer here could be against everything the Democrats stand for nationally, but will still vote DFL.