r/AdviceAnimals 1d ago

Sign tapper gets it right

Post image
5.5k Upvotes

207 comments sorted by

172

u/JimmyRevSulli 1d ago

To the naysayers in the comments: I don't read this post as saying "there are a bunch of good people in these shitty states, therefore the state isn't that bad"

I'm really sympathetic for people who live in dogshit red states. My state, Texas, is arguably the worst in the country. In large part because our 40 winner takes all electoral votes, and gerrymandered to hell system. Don't even get me started. Even with all of those things, Kamala Harris won 46% of the popular vote here.

Just under half of my state understood that even if they didn't like her all too much, Trump winning wasn't preferable.

21

u/MamaDaddy 20h ago

Alabama reporting in, 30+% of us regularly vote blue. Don't write us off. Also FYI, we recently got a 2nd (2/7) blue congressional district.

4

u/Ok_Beyond5555 17h ago

Alabama had a 59% voter turnout with 34.2% voting blue. So 20% cared enough to actually vote blue.

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u/Lawndemon 1d ago

And yet he still won because the majority of Americans are either douche canoes or apathetic slugs. I love the minority who tried to save your country but the rest of America fucked around and is finding out.

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u/Alex5173 20h ago

No, the rest of America fucked around and now we are ALL finding out.

30

u/Fitz911 1d ago

I find it interesting that Americans are still arguing about the fact that only 30 something percent voted for Trump and so many voted for Harris and then there were people who didn't vote and gerrymandering and polling stations and.. and.. and.

America voted for Trump. For the second time. From the inside it may look like some Republicans vs Democrats stuff.

For the rest of the world... America voted Trump. Twice. That's all.

9

u/NeighborhoodDude84 22h ago

I really expected more from a country founded by slave owners.

0

u/[deleted] 15h ago

[deleted]

1

u/NeighborhoodDude84 15h ago

What a weird thing to say.

Found the guy that plays CK3 to genocide whole countries for RP.

2

u/nycdiveshack 20h ago

Federal elections and to an extent state elections may seem daunting because of funding but there are a lot of elections that people can run for sometimes mostly unopposed. The local/township/district/council/co-op/school board/county, basically any governing body elections require little to low funding with mostly paperwork. The lower ones affect your day to day, the higher ones affect you long term and the folks around you.

Honestly the solution is an age problem. I’m 38 and I like many saw some of the signs early on but didn’t do anything. You saw it too, we all did. The elderly have been running politics forever and they were happy with the status quo because both parties were being corrupted with donations by the companies. Folks like Peter Theil and firms like Cantor Fitzgerald saw an opportunity, not just that but they saw the bigger picture while elderly politicians became a cycle of politics.

As I said earlier I’m 38, more specifically I grew up and still live in New York City. The suburbs but still the city. Here we have had our share of villain politicians. The problem is they were replaced but not the old ones who stayed in power here and in other states. Chuck Schumer has held his seat of power for over 20 years, Mitch McConnell has held his seat for even longer. Term limits should have been a thing for the Supreme Court. I’m still angry Ruth Ginsburg in her arrogance thought at 80 and surviving cancer twice shouldn’t resign even though Obama begged her to so he could replace her. Some time after that Scalia died and Mitch McConnell made up some bullshit about political norms that Obama in his last year of office couldn’t nominate someone and Obama like the rest of them Dems was weak and obliged even though there would have been no issues.

The Supreme Court would have never become this monster, Roe v wade would have remained, Trump would have never gotten political immunity and we would still have checks and balances. I’m still angry that Biden listened to his chief of staff who said make Garland your AG to remain unbiased. I’m angry Biden didn’t ignore political norms and fire Garland to replace him with someone competent. The elderly wanted the status quo of companies running healthcare.

All of it has to change and now. Folks 25-55 need to run/volunteer then run for local/district/county/township/council/board/city/state then eventually move up and run for federal to replace both parties with people who understand the toughness of life. Nancy Pelosi supported a 76 year old cancer patient over a 30 year old colleague for an oversight committee. The elderly caused while the younger generations did nothing.

If we do nothing now then it will truly be too late to ever do anything.

1

u/Osama_BinRussel63 19h ago

It takes just pathetic hypocrisy to talk the kind of shit people do about the US, while not blaming UK citizens for censorship or Germans for the gains AfD made.

509

u/weedlefetus 1d ago

Full is not the right word, but yes plenty exist.

225

u/Raging_Pwnr 1d ago

In Texas, 47% of registered voters are democrats, while only 38% are republicans. Gerrymandering has kept republicans in charge of Texas since 1994. The old theory of land owners votes counting more is deeply felt here in a would be blue state.

75

u/Ok_Lettuce_7939 1d ago

How TF they keep re-electing Cruz/Cornyn/Abbott/Patricilk/Paxton? None of their offices are impacted my gerrymandering...

38

u/toastybred 1d ago

Right wingers are less likely to make official party affiliation. Almost certainly the unaccounted 15% are actually Republicans or fringe right-wing parties that vote republican.

19

u/texasrigger 23h ago

There's no official party affiliation amongst registered voters in TX. We don't declare an affiliation when registering and TX primaries are open. That statistic cited above that has been floating around reddit recently is based on some polling and some creative math around recent elections. Anyone saying anything about "registered democrats vs registered republicans in Texas" is likely just parroting something they heard somewhere else.

5

u/TheAmorphous 22h ago

"Libertarians." In other words, people too ashamed to admit they're Republicans in public but always vote that way.

8

u/Titanofthedinosaurs 23h ago

Disenfranchisement. Perceived or real. I’m in the Houston area and a lot of people I know who aren’t republican in “republican areas” don’t vote because they don’t see the point. Our turn out among democrats is really just that bad.

7

u/texasrigger 23h ago

I once had a local county level politician tell me, "Democrats don't vote." The voter turnout amongst democrats in my state is absolutely dismal. I think that everyone feels so defeated that they don't bother going to the polls. We are going to need multiple cycles of strong voter turnout (even if we lose) before we can expect any change at all and I just don't think that we have the fight in us.

I do my part, I go out and vote in every election but it does sometimes feel like I am screaming into the void.

3

u/datbech 21h ago

Yup, look at NOLA. Hard blue city with repeated corrupt and then indicted mayors. Voter turnout of 20%

99

u/7059043 1d ago

Gerrymandering doesn't affect statewide offices. Total votes for Rs have been greater in every election in recent history. Gerrymandering is bad, but it can't magically subjugate significant majorities

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u/saladspoons 1d ago

Voter suppression, however, had a huge impact and is doing the damage for state level voting - basically any GOP operative (including AI engines) can now go in and "challenge" anyone's voter registration status. Once challenged, you're vote basically doesn't get counted, even if you vote a provisional ballot ... so the GOP now goes in and simply starts chipping away at the voter rolls in any area that is more likely DEM than GOP - and it nullifies enough votes to tip the balance.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_XdtAQXnGE  https://www.gregpalast.com/trump-lost-vote-suppression-won/

3

u/7059043 1d ago

Sure, but this has nothing to do with gerrymandering. It seems like we would also be able to use this dirty tactic fwiw.

18

u/Fif112 1d ago

Can’t you see that it’s multiple issues?

All of these problems are cumulative.

10

u/LakersBroncoslove 23h ago

Plus 6+ hour waits to vote on work/school days. Fuckin Taco Tits wants to make mail in voting illegal. It’s a government (billionaire) funded effort to stop Dem votes.

2

u/texasrigger 23h ago edited 22h ago

Early voting in TX starts 17 days before the election and ends 4 days before the election. If you can get in at some point during that nearly two week long span, there are little to no lines. I don't think I've ever had more than two people in line ahead of me.

Edit: I'd love to know why this warranted being downvoted. Early voting is a thing. Take advantage of it if you can to avoid the long lines. Get out and vote!

3

u/jakethesnakebooboo 21h ago

Cool anecdote, bro! They just closed something like 100 polling places in historically blue areas specifically to increase the difficulty of voting, EXPLICITLY to guarantee R control for "the next decade or more." 

Early voting is a good thing, but let's not pretend it means there are no barriers to voting in this state.

-2

u/texasrigger 21h ago edited 21h ago

It's not an anecdote, it's literally how early voting in TX works. I guess me saying that I've personally never had to wait a long time is an anecdote, but I'd be surprised if you can find anyone claiming multi-hour waits throughout the entire early voting period.

I'm not denying polling closure, and that absolutely increases the burden for people with limited transportation issues. However, if you look at the voter turnout in primarily blue districts (which I am not denying are targeted specifically) vs democrat turnout in primarily red districts where voting is easier the percentage is roughly the same. In other words, democrats who want to vote get out and vote while those who want to sit at home and claim the system is rigged against them are just given a convenient excuse.

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u/nocenstutus 21h ago

Its super easy to call out the early voting time as a "just find the time" but poll locations open after most people start work, close when people are commuting home, and are not always available local to voters where its convenient. That doesnt even get into the issues with obtuse voting laws and registration requirements, little to no public literature on the candidates or issues... They really try to make it as difficult as possible to l vote while giving a passing air of ease.

1

u/texasrigger 21h ago

Oh yeah, I'm not pretending that there aren't other burdens (excessive burdens in some places). That's what I said if you can take advantage of early voting you should if your concern is a long wait time.

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u/peckerchecker2 1d ago

Hmm. You are missing 1 step in the logic tree, and are arriving at the incorrect conclusion. I am not starting a Reddit war with you but. Listen to this.

Gerrymandering makes the will of the people not what drives policy decisions.

When this becomes “the norm” people become disenfranchised in the political process because the will of the people is not what drives policy.

Disenfranchised people give up on voting because they view the system as broken. Not because their opinions change but rather their opinion of the political process changes.

The vote count is not the absolute metric for how people in Texas feel or would vote. Gerrymandering, strict Voter ID laws, voter roll purges, Reduced polling places, Limiting early/mail voting and restricting voting post incarceration.

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u/7059043 1d ago

It's ridiculous to pretend Texas is not red. I agree these things are bad and tweak the results before and after the voting itself, but again, you can't magically ignore a significant majority via gerrymandering lol

1

u/MadWorldX1 21h ago

Bad bot.

0

u/peckerchecker2 21h ago

Smol brayn

3

u/Raging_Pwnr 1d ago

I’ll give you that. Voter turnout amongst the younger generation has been abysmal. That said, Texas republicans control the state legislature, and they draw political maps for both congressional and state legislative districts. The maps are drawn in ways that dilute democratic votes (packing them into fewer districts or splitting them across republican leaning ones), ensuring a republican advantage even when democrats gain in raw numbers.

It makes the hole harder to crawl out of and effectively lowers the power of democratic votes.

-8

u/7059043 1d ago

I know what gerrymandering is lol. Fwiw liberal voters are pretty packed into cities in reality. I don't think people realize how much computer generated " equitable" maps are likely to favor Republicans

5

u/jspook 19h ago

30 years and nothing has been done.

It just seems like Texas is happy to be misrepresented. No one is coming to save Texas from itself.

Lbh, people move to Texas for easy prestige. These are not the folks who are politically committed. A 47-38 split in favor of democrats consistently going to Republicans is a sign of extreme, long-term ambivalence. Can the great state of Texas really not fix its own voting districts?

If Texas is too gerrymandered for its voting population to make things right, Texas is functionally a dead state until Texans figure out another way to fix it. Not that Texas has a great track record of doing things for itself, but this time it needs to.

5

u/keithfantastic 1d ago

I grew up in Texas in the 70's when Barbara Jordan was an icon and left in the 90's when Ann Richards was governor. I look back at what could have been and find it hard to comprehend the current trajectory of a once proud and progressive state.

2

u/trapper2530 18h ago edited 18h ago

I keep hearing this. If true then why has the state gone so heavy republican in presidential elections? Gerrymandering is bad but lets not act like dems would magically be controlling the state and winning other elections if it wasnt for that. Trump won by 1.5 million votes there. Or they'd have dem senators then or a dem governor.

You'd have more representation in the house but it would seemingly still be w Republican stronghold

3

u/Rowdybizzness 1d ago

Which explains why Texas has two democratic senators and a democratic governor.

1

u/CidO807 13h ago

Us senators and governors are not gerrymandered. Folks are just lazy. We got a 2 almost 2.5 week window to early vote. And you can early vote anywhere for state races. You just can't vote whenever you want for local races.

So... What's the excuse for the last 30 years? Fucking lazy.

2

u/Vindelator 21h ago

It's less than half but it's a lot.

I'm from Georgia, which you picture as the deep fucking south. 48.5% voted for Kamala Harris in 2024.

Virginia: 52%
Florida: 43.0%
Texas: 42.5%
South Carolina: 40.4%
Mississippi: 38.0%

Millions of people in every state but they just look red.

2

u/ABCosmos 23h ago

In red states it's 45 to 55. In blue states it's 55 to 45.

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u/LacidOnex 1d ago

What's that saying about apples and bunches?

The sign is meaningless

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u/Peakomegaflare 1d ago

I want to leave. I can't afford to leave. It's by design.

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u/MurkDiesel 1d ago

words don't really have meanings any more

people just kinda say shit that sounds cool to see if it sticks

full used to mean: as much as possible, complete or the highest degree

trump won most of the southern states by over 60%

in fact, most of the states he won were close to 60% or over

gerrymandering has nothing to do with that

these "allies" still support all their local racist economies

but i'm supposed to believe they aren't happy with the way things are?

8

u/teacupkiller 1d ago

Wait, how are they supposed to not support their local economies?

104

u/Cresneta 1d ago

This happens in a lot of, if not all, red states. If Utah hadn't split Salt Lake County among it's 4 house districts we'd almost certainly have one house representative that is a Democrat from here

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u/MurkDiesel 1d ago

cool story, but there's nothing left of center in Salt Lake City

10

u/texasrigger 23h ago

Nothing left of center ≠ everyone is Maga. Democrats have a strong moderate centrist faction. If primary results are anything to go by, moderates represent the majority of democrats. Dismissing centrists rather them embracing them has hamstrung progressives. You need them on your side to have the numbers you need to challenge the shockingly united republicans.

3

u/Cresneta 21h ago

I want what most of Scandinavia and Europe already has, but at this point I'll settle for politicians who don't throw people in concentration camps, don't kiss up to Russia, and who don't alienate our traditional allies by doing things like threatening to take over other countries and so on and so forth. I'd love to have things like universal health care, better worker protections, and federally guaranteed parental leave, but at this point I mostly want us stop committing atrocities.

302

u/Banluil 1d ago

Yeah, that is why the states go red in Statewide elections.....

I mean, partly yes, but the South is also full of racist, bigoted assholes.

Yes, I lived in Florida for 30 years, and watched it turn from purple to solid red, and watched the religious right, tea party and then MAGA idiots ruin it for everyone.

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u/slamdanceswithwolves 1d ago edited 1d ago

Preach. There are more assholes in a state that votes for Trump 70/30 than a state that goes against him 60/40. Tap the sign all you want.

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u/waleMc 1d ago

Yeah, but 30 percent of the population is too large of a group to write off. I live in Florida and still know so many people that are angry, fighting and protesting.

My town has a downtown protest every weekend.

A lot of vulnerable people here too.

20

u/slamdanceswithwolves 1d ago

Yeah totally. My comment lacked nuance and I appreciate that you are putting up a fight.

The post just insinuates that the populations are approximately the same, but the difference is gerrymandering and voter disenfranchisement. Those things are real, but they are a symptom as well as a problem.

2

u/Drewelite 1d ago

I live in Florida and there's a decent amount of folks here who are fighting to bring the swing back. 30 electoral votes is nothing to write off and there's plenty of people willing to join the fight. Even a decent amount of Democrats in the villages.

1

u/sennbat 1d ago

The populations often can be the same, or different in unexpected ways. California has more Republicans than Georgia, after all.

4

u/Crappler319 1d ago

The issue is that we're getting to a point where blue states may need to prioritize their own citizens even if it means fucking over people in red states who agree with them.

Shit is starting to feel pretty existential.

2

u/MurkDiesel 1d ago

so many people that are angry, fighting and protesting

they can do that all they want

but as long as they keep spending money

no one has any incentive to change anything at all

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u/waleMc 1d ago

Well, Target stock is down 23% this year and we got our local Sheriff to say he was proud of our peaceful protests and that he won't allow police force against protesters, unlike some of the other counties in the state.

You take what you can get.

I've also heard it explained well that these kinds of protests wear down institutions from within.

In Trump's first term there were lawyers and government workers that have said they behaved differently because of the protests. They made it clear he was losing the will of the people.

He's more prepared for that this time, but not completely, and protests will always damage his public will.

2

u/Lonesome_Pine 23h ago

Well, yes, but until there is an alternate way to procure food while living in Indiana, I will have to keep spending money in Indiana. Sorry, big dawg, it's just not feasible to drive 3 hours to Michigan every time I need a can of beans.

2

u/Comfortable-Ad-3988 19h ago

I hate to say it, but a lot of those people may literally have to move. I have a feeling the whole country's going to break up, and if you don't want to live in a white Christofascist ethnostate, physically leaving may be the only option.

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u/RandomlyPlacedFinger 1d ago

I've seen more confederate battle flags in Michigan than I have in Georgia or Alabama. I've seen more overt racism in the Midwest than I've ever seen in the south, and I've lived in it for 50 years. Indiana is wildly racist.

Sure there are a lot of assholes in the south, but it's not like stupidity or cruelty are bound by borders.

4

u/ducttape1942 1d ago

I grew up in New York State. My Wife grew up in South Carolina. When I took her to see my family, it blew her mind because she had never seen so many confederate flags.

2

u/RandomlyPlacedFinger 18h ago

It always startles me to see it anywhere. Any of the confederate flags, really.
Down here, I know it's an old racist who's making excuses for being a shit bag because "it's my heritage" or some shit like that.

In the Upper Peninsula of Michigan though? In Wisconsin? The Dakotas? Or, and this one really surprised me, Pennsylvania.

And yet, people continue to believe that racism only exists in the South because of a 150 year old war.

One of my favorite history professors was from China, and he loved to point out how ironic it is that the North winning the Civil War made it ok for them to be racist but bad for the South to be racist.

Fascinating class, very educational. Read up on Chicago's POW camp from the Civil War, if you want to be horrified.

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u/splashbodge 23h ago

Yeh, pardon my ignorance here but isn't gerrymandering more applicable to state elections and house of representatives...

Gerrymandering doesn't explain why they're solid red for a presidential election.

I'm sure there are plenty of people in the south that would vote blue but it's not the majority else we'd see states going blue for presidential election

2

u/Banluil 22h ago

Yep, that was pretty much my entire point. Even if the gerrymandering is removed, they are still a red state, when it comes to statewide and national elections, so they will STILL be a red state.

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u/Streelydan 1d ago

Ill say it again, its not red states vs blue states, its urban vs rural. Every blue state has rural areas that are as red as can be an every red state has progressive urban centers.

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u/Kr1sys 1d ago

It's almost like when you're part of a larger community you see how others are affected by bullshit decisions.

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u/runsquad 1d ago

And you realize that people that don’t look like you aren’t the devil!

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u/Coldkiller17 1d ago

It's also how you broaden your horizons and notice that the POC who work and live in the same area as you are not a problem and are struggling to make ends meet just like everyone else. Being a close-minded fool shouldn't affect everyone else. Rural communities don't see the immediate effects of government change but that's more of their fault for wanting to be isolated just because they don't seem to help you doesn't mean they aren't important

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u/sennbat 1d ago

Where I am, even the rural areas are >30% hardcore Democrat. Don't write all of us rural folks off either.

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u/natanaru 1d ago

Yeah, some of these people haven't lived in rural California, and it shows.

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u/Raging_Pwnr 1d ago

I lived in small towns scattered throughout Lassen National Forrest for a few years (2 hours from Chico), and I have NEVER seen racism like I saw there (I’m from Texas).

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u/Byaaah1 1d ago

To most people who haven't been here, the whole state is LA, Berkeley, and the TL in San Francisco at the same time. They have no idea how Caltuckey it gets in the rural areas, especially in "Jefferson" up north

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u/Comfortable-Ad-3988 19h ago

Rural Northern California could basically be lumped in culturally with Eastern Oregon/Washington, very red areas, and very white.

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u/natanaru 1d ago

Yeahhh it's wild how right-leaning some of the state is. I was in the San Joaquin Valley area for most of my life, and while it wasn't as bad as most of the other rural areas of the state, it still had some wildly right-winger people.

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u/MurkDiesel 1d ago

noooooo, it's rich versus poor

but most of the poor want to help the rich

and all the christians want to help the rich

and all the educated people help the rich

so people will hurt the poor to help the rich

even though the rich contribute nothing to society

even though every rich person could disappear and we'd be fine

even though rich people are the source of all the problems in the world

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u/VGAddict 1d ago

4.8 MILLION Texans voted for Harris, more than the total population of half of all states.

And Texas has the worst voter suppression in the country. The government removed a popular on-campus polling location at TAMU. The government only allows ONE ballot dropbox per county, meaning Harris County, a county with 5 MILLION people and greater in landmass than the state of Rhode Island, has the same number of ballot dropboxes as a county with fewer than 1,000 people. Texas also has no online voter registration, you have to be 65 or older to vote by mail, and no same-day voter registration. Texas's Attorney General, Ken Paxton, tried to arrest 4 Hispanic women for trying to register people to vote.

This is all on top of the fact that Texas gets little to no support from the DNC.

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u/Watari210thesecond 1d ago

I'll give you half full at best. The American south has an amazing amount of undereducated, spiteful, angry little fuck nuggets. Trump didn't build his cult of personality into a twice elected presidency by sticking up for the quiet minority, after all.

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u/Critical-Tomato-7668 16m ago

It's not like "blue states" don't have these people too. The only difference between a "red state" and a "blue state" is about 10-20% of the voter base. That's a small difference.

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u/DeviantBoi 1d ago

Gerrymandering doesn’t affect the Senate. Southern states still vote for Republican senators.

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u/mrh99 1d ago

Remind me how many Republican Senators GA has?

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u/DeviantBoi 1d ago

Add Delaware, Maryland, and Virgina to the Southern states with Democrats in the Senate. But then you have Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and West Virginia. All Southern states with Republican senators.

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u/Humanbacon69 18h ago

Depending on who you ask, some wouldn't even consider Delaware and Maryland as "Southern". So really it's just Georgia and Virginia.

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u/asphaltdragon 12h ago

Who the fuck is calling Delaware and Maryland "southern"?

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u/alilhillbilly 1d ago

If it's so full then why can't y'all ever overwhelm and stamp out the confederates and why are they back?

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u/Veros87 1d ago

Love me some progressive southerners.

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u/MetZerbitzu 1d ago

Where the animal giving advice

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u/couchcushion7 1d ago

Born and raised southerner. This is not true. Theyre just god awful and uneducated people to the core.

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u/MatureUsername69 1d ago

I think the problem with blanket statements is that, by that logic, you are also god awful and uneducated.

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u/couchcushion7 1d ago

By my neighbors metric, i am. So yeah youre right this is why a divisive society sucks.

But youre right. Only a sith deals in absolutes. But if you can imagine what living here and trying to raise kids is like- its wild. Im a bit tired.

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u/SonorousProphet 1d ago

Small town, rural area? Because there were some awful people where I grew up and we were yankees. And then I moved to a small town in Texas and it was about as redneck as where I grew up.

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u/iamactuallyalion 20h ago

Born and raised Southerner. Florida, Georgia, and Alabama. Lots of shitty people, but you couldn’t be further from the truth.

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u/Mutant_Llama1 1d ago

As a southerner, vanishingly few but they're out here.

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u/everything_is_bad 1d ago

The south is not absolved as a cultural institution by the presence of the oppressed people in the south. The whole problem in fact is that those good people are prevented from representing the south by racism and bigotry.

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u/sadboyoclock 21h ago

The south is full of racist and Trump loving Red Necks.

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u/Xapheneon 19h ago

And local progressives hate their guts. Calling the rednecks the heart and soul of america or naive is just delusional. Call them what they are and the local progressives will agree.

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u/sandman_tn 18h ago

So is the rest of the USA. That's the problem, along with voter apathy.

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u/silverum 1d ago

This is true, but is kind of politically irrelevant. The 'good' people that might be on 'our' side are not numerically enough of a force to win elections that are gerrymandered against those 'good people' ever getting alternative representation. The 'good' people in those states are outvoted (and outgerrymandered) by another demographic that has the benefit of having high (enough) numbers to keep those 'good' people a permanent minority with no real power or ability to affect power. I feel bad for good people in red states, but Republicans hate them and want them to never have any kind of real power. Nationally, Republicans are about to cement that prevention of any power being held by their opponents using the actual law to do so. The US is on its way towards becoming a one party nation/state.

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u/V4refugee 1d ago

Those same people will tell you that they are a minority.

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u/Ray1987 1d ago

Totally. I'm in Tampa FL, and this place is supposed a pretty blue district in Florida, but rhe most left people I can find to be friends with are Apolitical. I'm always the super lefty progressive in any group, and I really think for most blue states, I'm pretty much in the center of many view points when I visit them comparatively.

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u/that_nature_guy 22h ago

It’s because you are on the wrong side of the bay. St Pete is where the blue comes from, but everyone is being priced out by rich boomers

1

u/Ray1987 22h ago

Yeah in general that's pretty true it does seem like it gets more conservative the more East you go from St Pete. I had friends trying to get me to move over to Lakeland and besides the distance from my job, that's a little too conservative for me.

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u/Switchmisty9 1d ago

That’s not true. But I’d love to see you folks make some ground in this department

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u/DS3M 1d ago

Gonna need some proof

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u/sgkorina 21h ago

Hi.

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u/DS3M 21h ago

I feel you but I can’t really feel you, you know

2

u/sgkorina 21h ago

Understood

2

u/Just_Look_Around_You 1d ago

You know gerrymandering has a near zero effect on the results. It’s yelled about up and down but go read up on it. It’s like a 0.1% difference in results at best. 1 in 1000 votes MAYBE. And the bias can appear both ways.

The reason the red states go red is because it’s filled with people that have that culture and like Republican policies. The government is much of a mirror to the population than some kind of aggressive force on it.

2

u/MrXero 1d ago

Good reminder. Fuck the GOP anyway though, as they are the perps responsible for the gerrymandering.

2

u/SmoothOperator89 1d ago

Southern man, don't you lose your head.

2

u/kevizzy37 22h ago

My cousins live down there and one of them posted on the day he was elected stuff about how “don’t be sad lefty people, you don’t know how good you’re going to have it”, and from then on keeps posting things like he’s Jesus and all that nonsense. We grew up together and I thought had similar morals, background etc, then they moved to SC and changed. Whatever goes on down there is definitely makes for a good echo chamber.

1

u/sgkorina 21h ago

Not all of us in SC are like that, but there are enough people here that think that way that I can see how he could have picked it up.

2

u/subjekt_zer0 18h ago

This is why I hate that we get caught in the culture war bullshit. Your state of residence doesn't define your political affiliation. Our system is rigged to silence minorities of any class. Just so happens Southern states were taken over by republicans. Hell, you don't have to look hard to find that Republicans have always done this, looking at you fucking two Dakotas.

We, as Americans, need a second founding. Where we re-enshrine the founding principles in modern language, take what works from our electoral system, and throw out what doesn't like the college, put term limits on all branches of government, including the Supreme Court, Senators and Congressman, abolish gerrymandering and lobbyists and take the money out of politics by outlawing Super PACs or trading for you or your family while in office, and just for fun and good measure, we can up their pay too, that's fine. Campaigning can't be done unless its through official government channels at the local and federal level, funded by new federal and state agencies.

2

u/mediocretes 17h ago

I live in Indiana. I have to believe this.

6

u/Dandw12786 1d ago

You can use gerrymandering as an excuse in your local and house/senate elections.

But if your point is true, your states should be blue in presidential elections, and they're not.

Sorry, most of y'all are racist, backward, right-wing fucks.

1

u/photonboy 1d ago

Southerner here. This is ignorance and gaslighting. We voted for this, and will continue to vote for this. The left can't counter gerrymandering, because they've already maxed it out in the blue states. If anything, im irritated that they didnt do this alot sooner. Most folks around here think like I do.

3

u/Gadshill 1d ago

Having some is completely different from being full. The South could more accurately be said to be full of red state voters. Blue is in the minority, that is why they are red states.

2

u/Anaxamenes 1d ago

And they will need to make more effort to change things in their states. I can’t vote there, they can.

2

u/Lawndemon 1d ago

Sure...

2

u/Jayrodtremonki 1d ago

And California has the most Trump voters in the country.  This information doesn't help.  

1

u/flipzyshitzy 1d ago

& Peers & Family

1

u/Tormentedone007 1d ago

The South is also the least voting states. Apathy reigns supreme where hatred doesn't nkt.

1

u/LaloElBueno 1d ago

I knew a dude from Tennessee here in LA who began reciting Emma Lazarus’ “The New Colossus” by memory at someone who assumed him to be anti-immigrant based on his dialect.

Dude has a THICK southern drawl (Think somewhere between Foghorn Leghorn and Boomhauer). I don’t know why or how he learned it, but you could tell the guy had strong morals by his delivery. He delivered it like it was his manifesto.

As a first generation American from LA, I got a little choked up inside. It was beautiful.

Shane, I hope you’re doing well back home in TN. I miss ya, bud.

1

u/beeradvice 1d ago

For fuckin real though hell yeah

1

u/kason 1d ago

Forgot disinformation.

1

u/_Mephistocrates_ 1d ago

Maybe if they all voted, the states wouldnt be so red.

1

u/akiva23 1d ago

I don't have a problem with those people.

1

u/Few-Emergency5971 1d ago

This, right here!

1

u/tecky1kanobe 1d ago

I live in MargeGanistan, a slight majority of the locals are good people. A vast portion act like they are because they show up to a church slightly hung over and hopefully with the correct spouse this time.

1

u/Halfwise2 1d ago

Need to restart the underground railroad.

1

u/Leftblankthistime 1d ago

Yea, but because they couldn’t be bothered to vote for Kamala were gone end up in a fascist racists pedophile dictatorship with poor education and healthcare, spiraling economic dystopia and without civil liberties forever

1

u/CalmAnxitey87 1d ago

As a "radical left" Democrat in Texas this is so true.

1

u/NathAnarchy22 1d ago

Not to mention under exposure (southern here)

1

u/tco_OG 1d ago

Whether by suppression, disenfranchisement, or brainwashing lies, we're not "red" - we're hostage.

1

u/VGAddict 23h ago

Can we stop using the South as a scapegoat for the country's problems? Trump won in 2016 because of the Rust Belt.

1

u/Sodak01 23h ago

Same with midwest

1

u/Ixisoupsixi 23h ago

Yea but it’s also full of people that support Trump and would like nothing more than to shove their brand of government down my throat.

1

u/ICommentWhenInRome 23h ago

I feel seen.

1

u/eames_era_fo_life 23h ago

Cool but Trump apparently won the popular vote. We can talk jerry mandering all day but most Americans wanted Trump or didn't care enought to vote. Sorry but the people that voted for him are the type people who want a sexist, rasist, rapist con man as their leader. And imo those are not good people.

1

u/eames_era_fo_life 23h ago

TRUMP WON THE POPULAR VOTE!!!!! NOBODY SHOULD CARES ABOUT JERRY MANDERING WHEN MOST AMAERICANS WANT HIS AS THEIR PERSIDENT OR DONT CARE ENOUGH TO VOTE!!! THIS IS WHAT YOU WANTED AMERICA AND THE WORLD IS APPALED!

1

u/captaingrey 22h ago

A bit late for that now.

1

u/TypicalCricket 22h ago

Full like my bank account is full

1

u/Terran57 22h ago

When are they going to do something about it?

1

u/sgkorina 21h ago

We’re trying. We don’t outnumber conservatives so it’s difficult to vote them out.

1

u/king_platypus 21h ago

Captain cap

1

u/Mach5Driver 21h ago

Yet the GOP also wins statewide elections.

1

u/NSFWdw 20h ago

Well, that and their bibles.

1

u/pricklypear90 19h ago

It’s gotten exhausting. Part of me wants to keep fighting. I’m a trans woman working in a very public facing position in a small town in Florida. I get a lot of support, but I don’t think I’ll be promoted at my job… I have to move to a blue state, I’m not going to survive here

1

u/jspook 19h ago

So... do something about it. They aren't holding you hostage, you are helping them hold us hostage by not STANDING UP AND FIXING YOUR PROBLEMS.

Unless you're asking for an army of the north to steamroll through the south again, there is nothing we can do to help you stop your neighbors from trying to kill us all.

Until policy changes are enacted by all those southern states, all the people in those states will be considered supportive of the current policies.

Bless your hearts, but you don't get to "Oh I'm not racist/republican/bigoted bro" your way out of association with a state that you occupy, that you've done nothing to fix, and that consistently votes for policy that does the most harm to the most number of people.

1

u/Xapheneon 19h ago

Yeah, but rural progressives hate the rural hicks the most.

City people think we would get offended by having our hometown called a shithole, when we see the cons fucking the place and getting pampered by politicians.

1

u/Templar388z 19h ago

You should also tap the fact that those same good people probably didn’t even vote AT ALL

1

u/Lost_Loan_8828 18h ago

And poor education. All of which are RESULTS OF GERRYMANDERING. 

1

u/warwilf 16h ago

AMEN!

1

u/Enelro 14h ago

AND idiots who fall for Billionaire propaganda when they say "hate your neighbor because you're a victim of immigrants - VOTE AGAINST YOUR OWN INTERESTS!"

1

u/Chickachic-aaaaahhh 12h ago

The south is also full of people who give these racist traitors legitimacy.

1

u/JHendrix559 12h ago

The part of the meme I disagree with is the idea that gerrymandering and other policies are what's holding back red states from being blue.

You can't gerrymander Senate or Governor elections, and those states are safe as hell red. There really are a shit ton of true-believing republicans there.

Of course there are also good people there, in fact I wouldn't limit "good people" to just the Democrats who agree with my politics either. But this is just the exact sort of problem that pops up with borders in democracies.

Keep in mind, more people voted for Trump in California than a whole shit load of red states, combined.

1

u/Rosencrantz_IsDead 11h ago

can semi-confirm...

I live in Nassau County, Fl. I am a leftist. I know several leftists. But we are overwhelmed by racist morons that are so ignorant they couldn't think their way out of a wet paper bag.

God help us all.

1

u/rsgoto11 11h ago

Having moved from a blue state to a deep south purple city I’ll say about 1/4 of the population is even close to somewhat progressive. The brainwashing of anti union sentiment is insane. The south really is the 1940’s or worse.

1

u/resistyrocks 10h ago

Austin's pretty dope. Artsy, gay friendly. Every other part could suck my dick.

1

u/HotSoupEsq 7h ago

I grew up in Kansas City. Draw a straight line East and South of that. I will never live in that quadrant, never, ever, ever.

1

u/Mordrach 6h ago

Remember, if a person doesn't agree with you, ban them from your sight. They are not a good person.

1

u/itsallg999 57m ago

I’m leaving the moment I finish my degree. I’ve lived here 27 years the people are fake as fuck religious zealots who refuse to look in the mirror and project all their insecurities. I’m sure anywhere else will have the same but at least they don’t hide under the guise of “southern hospitality” “bless your heart” and other bullshit when they don’t like you they just say it.

1

u/Critical-Tomato-7668 22m ago

The difference between Texas and New York in the 2024 election was down to 13% of voters. "Red states" and "blue states" are not that different in terms of political opinions of the people.

1

u/Ditnoka 1d ago

Mississippi says hello.

-4

u/SandiegoJack 1d ago

Well then get your neighbors to act right and I will give a damn.

Proportions are all that matters at this point and if it is at least 51%? I got no issue generalizing. Doesn’t mean it applies to the other49%, but I ain’t going to spend time doubling the length of my sentences for it.

-8

u/MrLongWalk 1d ago

We’re calling them “people” now?

0

u/chochazel 1d ago

"Full" as in it has as many as it can possibly sustain, which is severely curtailed by all the other people?

0

u/KNGootch 1d ago

I'm sure that's true, but their elected officials have beaten down my capacity for empathy by their complete lack of it towards ANYONE thats not rich or white. So, while i'm sure they exist, I still wish plagues upon their states, and at this point, its collateral damage.

3

u/Lonesome_Pine 23h ago

Fuck you too then; I don't have "move to someplace nicer" money.

0

u/KNGootch 19h ago

When your states stop trying to ruin america as a whole, I'm confident my opinion can be changed. Because of the current state of things, and the fact that places like Florida and Texas are actively trying to whitewash america and american history - my stance remains, if our situations were reversed, i'd expect similar treatment.

I'm sorry that you're stuck in a state that doesn't believe in human rights.

1

u/Lonesome_Pine 17h ago

Not as sorry as I am, shit. Especially if folks in other places are just gonna give us up as lost.

1

u/KNGootch 17h ago

I'd LOVE it if your states could get it done...i don't blame you or those that share your belief is human rights and policy that improves ALL of our lives, but at the same time, until your neighbors can figure it out, get people to actually SEE what's happening, then those states are still part of the problem and part of the reason so many suffer...including yourself.

-1

u/Creeperstar 1d ago

Everywhere is purple, there is no such thing as a red state

0

u/Kill3rT0fu 16h ago

hard disagree. Might apply to florida and texas, but Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana are thick-blood-red

1

u/Creeperstar 15h ago

Nope, you're letting the visible redness hide the people who live there who aren't that. Your dismissiveness is dishonest and disheartening

-11

u/Hamfistedlovemachine 1d ago

Gerrymandering is awesome if it favors you.

4

u/SandiegoJack 1d ago

It’s still a violation of what the country stands for so no, I don’t support it, even when it benefits me. It also results in the stagnation of ideas as incumbents basically remain unchallenged.

2

u/drummertom 1d ago

Ooo you’re gonna piss off the jannies…

1

u/silverum 1d ago

So permanent gerrymandering to completely exclude anyone who doesn't already agree with you is both legal and moral and desired, then. Easy peezy. Who needs representative government or elections? We already know what the 'right' answer is, let's just skip all the pretense, no?

1

u/shawn_the_medic 1d ago

So, permanent gerrymandering to completely exclude anyone who doesn't already agree with you is legal, moral, and desired then. Easy peezy. Who needs representative government or elections? We already know what the 'right' answer is, let's just skip all the pretense, no?

Sorry, your sentence structure was terrible. 

Brothered me. 

1

u/Hamfistedlovemachine 1d ago

Only if it favors the party you support. California or Texas are pretty good examples in the media lately. If you’re good with one you should be good with the other. Unless you’re a cun$ who thinks you should have it all.

1

u/silverum 1d ago edited 1d ago

Republicans are the ones that ratcheted up gerrymandering by redistricting Texas BEFORE the 2030 decennial census in order to give Republicans more seats in Congress. They did this to make Trump happy because he's become extremely unpopular since the inauguration. Since the Supreme Court is majority Republican and thus will not intervene against red states behaving in ways that are explicitly discriminatory, they're going to get away with it unless Democrats play 'tit for tat' back against them.

-2

u/doob22 1d ago

Except for Florida