Ok, let me start out that my post is generally going to be focusing more on the problems the GOP causes in my home state so it likely won't concern you guys too much but I figured I would share the problems in a deep red state.

I live in Wyoming and for those of you familiar with the economy here, you know that the state seems to ride a boom and bust cycle. The reason for that of course is that the primary sector of the economy that is relevant here is the energy sector. When energy prices are high, the economy was booming. High energy prices in 2008 pretty much sheltered the state from the national economy's meltdown. Once those prices dropped though, the state was hit hard.

This is where the politics come into play. Some are calling for economic diversification, which is something that would provide a more stable economy, regardless of energy prices. Naturally Mary Throne (D), who is running for governor, supports this and Mark Gordon (R) and Rex Rommel (C) oppose it. Back from 2002-2010, we had a democratic governor in Dave Freudenthal and during that time, the economy was fairly stable out here and we were seeing growth. Once Matt Mead (R) took over in 2011, the economy began to stagnate, deficits returned and now people are leaving the state. Want to know the ridiculous thing, republicans are sitting there thinking that by simply altering things a tiny bit to favor the wealthy, that it will bring people back.

They sit there and bitch about companies putting more wind turbines in, they claim it is killing Wyoming jobs in the energy sector. Yes the turbines don't bring in jobs by the truckload but at least you don't have wild price swings with wind energy either. This is one of those moments when I think republicans out here need to pull their heads out of their asses and realize that it is all about the cost of the commodities that are drilled for out here.

One thing that really irks me is that year after year, our "wonderful" governor Matt Mead continues to shun Medicaid expansion. Given that I am on disability and depend on Medicaid to pay the costly co-pays and Part D supplemental insurance, that does concern me. I am constantly in a state of worry over whether or not it will still be there. Of course Gordon thinks things are just fine and dandy and will continue with Mead's "the hell with the poor, elderly and disabled" legacy while Throne is wanting to expand Medicaid so more Wyomingites will have access to affordable healthcare.

Continuing on with my rant over healthcare, the republicans claim that Medicaid expansion would cause the insurance of those who don't need Medicaid to go up. Wrong. What would happen with Medicaid expansion is that hospitals would continue to get compensated for the care they provide. This is essential for the smaller hospitals, the ones in the less populated communities. The way things are right now, some of those hospitals are not getting the compensation for the services they provide and are on the brink of closure. That is bad news for the people who live in the communities where there aren't as many people.

For those people, the nearest larger hospital is often 100+ miles away and in some instances out of state. The republicans here claim that they will preserve the "Wyoming way." What they don't realize is that the "Wyoming way" is full of nothing but stagnation, is a breeding ground for massive debt and simply doesn't work.

Now one thing that really irks me is that Liz Cheney (R) was allowed to run in 2016 for the House even though she lives in Alexandria, Virginia. She owns property up around Jackson so of course they let her run and thanks to daddy's last name, she won. Hell the democrat running had worked in the oil fields and had a stake in a smaller oil company and he still lost. That is proof that many of the people in my state are a lost cause. Many of them will vote for anyone who has an (R) next to their name. Sad thing is, you could probably put Hitler on the ballot and as long as he had an (R) next to his name, he would probably win.

All we can hope for out here is that people are paying attention to the gubernatorial debates. In the debates, Mary Throne has been the only one who actually has answers to the questions the moderators ask, answers that show that she wants to fix Wyoming's problems. Gordon simply says "oh I'll fix it" yet gives no real answer. His true plan though is to continue with Mead's failing legacy. Rommel, the Constitutionalist, hell he is even more clueless. What I am hoping for is that Rommel will take votes away from Gordon and that Throne can win. The state economy always seem to be better when a democrat is in office anyway.

Regardless of where you live though, VOTE BLUE!

6637634 Very well summed up, and sadly I feel like this is a problem that will continue to plague states like Wyoming even after Trump leaves. The best that can be hoped for is for a new generation of voters in these states, the ones specifically affected by these policy decisions to rise up and bring about the change necessary. The only way the establishment will ever learn that what it's doing is wrong, is when it can no longer do what it's always been doing and win.

I have the same bad feeling. With Wyoming, the population is aging. Part of the reason for that is even if high school graduates attend the university in Laramie, not that many Wyoming residents stay in the state. What they major in they either kind find that kind of job in the state or they can get paid more for it elsewhere. The older population tends to be very stubborn and more conservative and will vote republican, even though the GOP doesn't have their best interests in mind....nor do they care about them.

Perhaps someday the residents of deep red states will finally wake up and realize that the GOP cares nothing about them but when it comes to Wyoming, I wouldn't count on it. Too many people are so wrapped up in thinking that the state can survive with an energy driven economy that they won't even give anything else a chance....and I have a feeling that there are other red states that probably rely on one sector and think it will keep them going forever as well. I look at Oklahoma, a state that is even redder than Wyoming and think to myself, "If they didn't have Oklahoma City, it would be nothing short of a wasteland."

6637696
Same here in Utah. I'll be able to vote by next year.

6637704

That doesn't surprise me. Red states tend to think that you can keep on doing the same thing over and over and it will work even if it fails every time. Now I voted for Throne and hopefully she can win and turn things around. I'm not sure what the economy is like out there in Utah or what sectors dominate but hopefully it won't always be just one thing.

6637634
In California, people do the same but vote Democrat. It’s all about name recognition. People either don’t check the candidate’s history, or they completely ignored it.

Which is why we still have Nancy Pelosi and Dianne Feinstein. Kamala Harris will have the same luxury because of the several times she gets national attention speaking up in DC.

Now, I know we need to vote blue, but we could easily have better Democrats running. For example, a lot of Dems hate Joe Manchin, but the Party itself refused to recognize his challenger and she still got 30%+ of the votes. After Kavanaugh, then Democrats begin to question, who’s challenging Manchin?

Motherfuckers were too late and the party and hardline Dems continue to support Democrats with a shady history and voting records i.e. Andrew Cuomo and Dan Lipinski.

We need to change the leadership. Chuck Schumer and Tom Perez are not strong leaders and do not have a message.

The DNC claims they’re “For the People” but instantly turn around and started accepting Fossil Fuel donations again. 1 month after they said they would stop.

I for one, would rather have Barbara Lee than Nancy Pelosi as Speaker of the House.

And we also gotta address why on Earth the entire Democratic Party joined the Republican Party to increase the defense budget.

These are the votes. Check out the Nays.

6637728
The economy's been rapidly shifting to a more tech-based economy similar to the famed Silicon Valley area of California. Before I moved, I used to live in Lehi, which is now nicknamed "Silicon Slopes" around here from the large number of tech startups and large corporations moving in.

Also, just based on what I generally overhear at school, it seems that my generation is probably gonna buck Utah's republican trends.

6637733

All I can say is WOW. Only seven opposed it and out of those seven, six were republicans. Sanders opposing it doesn't surprise me but what I am thinking is that those six republicans are probably looking at the economic side of things and do not like the idea of increasing the defense budget. It is good to see that some of them aren't all bought off by either the defense sector or they have this idea that if they don't support it, that they would be betraying the military.

I have heard about how the politics are out in California and it is a shame that good candidates are shot down all in the name of staying with the establishment. Something is fishy involving Manchin and how his challenger wasn't even recognized. Corruption is everywhere in politics and it sounds like they are trying to force Manchin on folks even though he is rather unpopular. It is a shame that his challenger didn't get over half the vote, although if they are anything like how the Wyoming democratic party was after the 2016 caucuses, it wouldn't have mattered. Bernie won the popular vote but Hillary still came out with more delegates.

I suppose all we can do is hope that more people will come to their senses in all states, red and blue. With as polarized as politics have become, I don't see that happening any time soon.

6637734

The economy's been rapidly shifting to a more tech-based economy similar to the famed Silicon Valley area of California. Before I moved, I used to live in Lehi, which is now nicknamed "Silicon Slopes" around here from the large number of tech startups and large corporations moving in.

Also, just based on what I generally overhear at school, it seems that my generation is probably gonna buck Utah's republican trends.

Before the call center here in Laramie shut down, I worked for a company based out of Orem, Western Watts.....this was back before I had to go on disability. I do see what is happening along that stretch of the I-15 corridor and it reminds me A LOT of what is happening along the I-25 corridor in Colorado from Wellington to Colorado Springs.

Colorado used to be a red state but once economic diversification began and a lot of people from the west coast moved to Colorado for the somewhat lower jobs, it flipped. A lot of those jobs along the front range are tech based, a sector that certainly isn't going anywhere. I would love to see something similar happen here but I sadly don't see it happening.

6637748
Yeah. It's really just a matter of diversifying the population at this point. The more companies there are that move in, the more diverse the workforce becomes, and with it, the general opinion shifts as well. Same goes with the upcoming generation shift in the population's voting power.

6637743
The Democratic Party knows they cannot pull the same stunt in 2020. People will pay attention and people will begin to doubt the Democratic Party more.

And right now, Bernie’s still the frontrunner with Joe Biden behind him. However, Biden’s actions with Anita Hill and his voting history will torpedo his campaign.

Except for the New York Democratic Party. Democrats complain about voters being purged in Georgia but don’t say anything when New York does the same thing in 2016 and the 2018 primary. It happened to Nomiki Konst, longtime Democratic delegate, and Mayor Bill de Blasio’s own son.

The majority of the people who were purged in 2018 seem to be Cynthia Nixon supporters and in 2016, largly Brooklyn where Bernie Sanders had very strong support.

6637874 I'm mostly worried that the Democrats will have the same problem the GOP had in 2015-2016, as well as 2011-2012. Way too many candidates, almost none of whom would actually have a chance in a general election but stay in the contest long enough to keep the party fighting and weaken the nominee while Trump will most likely roll to re-election from the GOP that now marches lock in step with him. If it were just Kasich v.s. Trump in 2016, Trump would've never had a chance, a conservative moderate like Kasich would've easily been able to unify the party and shut down Trump who excelled in part because the rest of the GOP kept fighting each other and even when Cruz got within striking distance of Trump he refused to attack him until it was too late.

So far the potential nominees being tossed around are Bernie Sanders, Joe Biden, Elizabeth Warren (at this point she all but has to run since she confronted Trump's Pocahontas jab head on), Corey Booker, and probably Tim Kaine and Kamala Harris. Not to mention the longshot celebrity candidates people are considering like Michael Aventti (who would be just as bad as Trump for the same reason, no actual political experience or any knowledge of how the executive branch is supposed to function). Of the crowd, the only ones with any chance at all are Bernie, Joe, and Elizabeth. Booker is damaged goods, he's got way too much baggage, Kaine would have a hard time getting out from under Hillary's shadow, and Kamala wouldn't appeal to the swing states.

6638019
The problem about Elizabeth Warren is not only has she done much after the 2016 elections, but she also hurt her own progressive support for endorsing Hillary and not standing up for the protesters of Standing Rock while Bernie did.

Bernie's been actively going around the country and constantly tackling issues while most Senators are either doing nothing or focusing on Trump.

Then there's the poor timing of her dna results. She had to announce it DURING the midterms. Many Dems were annoyed by her decision and thought she should've waited until after.

I don't believe Warren nor Michael Avenatti have any chances. Avenatti alone is seen as an attention seeker by many Dems and they don't like it. At least Bernie's constantly talking about issues while Avenatti only talks about Trump.

In my opinion, it'll come down to Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden. However, Biden has skeletons in his closet. Way more baggage than Bernie does and his time as VP under Obama may not save him. The two things that will constantly plague him is the Crime Bill he wrote and his behavior about Anita Hill.

Heard Barbara Lee will be rallying with Bernie Sanders. Sanders/Lee 2020 anyone?

6638122 I'm thinking a far more likely candidate for VP would be O'Rourke. He's said he has no interest in running for president, but he's made a surprisingly strong showing in Texas and he's relatively young. He could help to alleviate concerns about Bernie's age by having a progressive VP, while also boosting the ticket's performance in Southern states. Texas was a lot closer for Trump than it's been since it switched to the GOP in 1972, and by 2020 or 2024 there's a good chance it'll become a Purple state.

6638261
However, Beto doesn’t have that much experience. While it sounds good, I doubt it would happen.

I wanted to say Joe Kennedy III to bring in some Centrist support, but they’re both from the Northeast.

Barbara Lee would reel in the West Coast.

Jesse Jackson is a maybe but he’s just as old as Bernie.

Honestly, I don’t know any good VPs that could appeal to the young. Then again, Bernie himself already appeals to the young, but he will be attacked for the lack of women and people of color.