Something I don't get:

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Permalink Reply by Natasha Lycia Ora Bannan on August 31, 2008 at 8:04pm

Just as stumped as you are!! Really, it violates everything women's issues and rights' activists, like Hillary herself, have stood for.

And I vote for secret Canadian!

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Permalink Reply by chompermom on January 25, 2009 at 1:31pm

As a former Arkansan (Arkansas voted overwhelmingly for McCain, although they have ALWAYS voted democrat) I can tell you that it is very much a race thing in Arkansas. And probably most other southern states that voted for McCain. The areas that are predominately black (Little Rock, West Memphis) voted for Obama. It's very clear. The people there will tell you, oh, I'm not racist, but we're just not ready for a black man as president. or worse.

Interestingly, this choice made more sense for Arkansas, not because of their reasoning, but because of the character of the average Arkansan. Most of them are super-Christian, and hate liberals and liberal thinking. They're a lot more like Palin and McCain. Yet, most of them always vote demo. because republicans are evil, to their way of thinking. It goes back to the Civil War (seriously), and the carpetbaggers. The northerners (led by Repub. Abraham Lincoln) were the ones who raided their towns, burned buildings, stole crops, and raped women. The republicans and carpetbaggers forced them into a submissive state in the Reconstruction, making them hire ex-slaves as workers and taking away their dignity in many ways. It's very similar to how Germany was treated after each World War. The southerners resented that, and taught their children to hate Republicans and the north. They don't even realize why. Later, republicans also became symbols of big business, and big government. Not things Southerners, who are/were often poor (esp. compared to the North), like. Even in modern times, when democrats/liberals are pushing abortion, women's rights, gay rights, etc. and republicans/conservatives are going for the opposite, plus prayer in schools, God in the Pledge of Allegiance, Creation taught in schools, etc., there is such a thing as a "Southern Democrat". They vote democrat, locally, and nationally, even though they are really conservatives (there is a section of Arkansas in the northwest that votes repub, but most of them don't). In local elections, if you are a republican, you have a hard time getting elected. So many people run as demo, even if they're not. Remember, at one time, Republicans were the liberals (wanting to do away with slavery, centralized government and money, etc). These people aren't stupid, they just are appalled at the thought of voting for a republican (it would be like us voting for a communist or nazi leader, if the names stayed the same, but the philosophy changed. Names/labels are a powerful thing).

Arkansas was very proud of Bill Clinton, not because of his policies, or because of his wife's activism, but because he was from Arkansas. He was one of our good ol boys.

I can't speak for the rest of the US, but that's the story in Arkansas.

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