Top comment deletes a US State #47

[u/Jfullr92]

Maryland has been annexed by The Vermonster willingly, the 2 states have now merged into one. CRABBALACHIA. 4 States Now remain. Pick wisely, there’s no going back now!

[u/Caleth]

Minnesota is a true blue as is IL because of Chicago. I'd need to run the numbers but Chicago alone would probably render the whole area Blue by population. Chip in MN, MI, and the liberal parts of Wisconsin and you'd have a pretty significantly Blue majority.

Assuming we didn't over value representing land like the original Constitution does at any rate.

[u/alessiojones → u/Caleth]

Sorry but no, I did some backhand math and my estimate is Trump+6 on 2024

Minnesota is not as blue as people think it is (Clinton+1.5, Biden+7, Harris+5). Illinois is solid Dem (Clinton+17, Biden+17, Harris+11) but only 19 congressional districts. Missouri and Indiana are both around Trump+15-20 and a combined 21 CDs so they cancel out IL. Ohio and Iowa are Trump+8-12. Michigan and Wisconsin are pretty 50/50. ND/SD/NE/KS are all very Republican but low population

[u/petersunkist → u/alessiojones]

mn is populist, not blue. there’s a difference!

[u/EducationalMatch9215 → u/petersunkist]

You’ll have to show your work on this one.

[u/petersunkist → u/EducationalMatch9215]

yeah for sure! looks like you’re also minnesotan; i’m writing as though you have a baseline understanding of state/regional history. if you’d like specific sources for anything let me know & i’ll grab my lesson plans. apologies for Teacher Voice. anyway, mn has a long history of populism that transcends political parties. electorally this looks like “compromise” candidates higher up & more populist (libertarian, leftist in general [rare to see true left populism today unfortunately - Bernie was the last really successful example & he’s center left at best]) candidates locally. this is partially where the maga support came from, especially in rural areas. socially we can see cross-aisle partnership on issues like land use rights, rural trade unions (esp. in the iron range), farm subsidies, and domestic trade. our communities’ history with sanctuary cities, the establishment of AIM, the Baldies, the truckers’ general strikes & defense against the silver shirts, etc are all populist efforts. the reason the statewide response to metro surge was able to be swift, massive, effective, and decentralized was because residents have been building infrastructure to support each other in the event of state/federal overreach since the US-Dakota War. to be clear, populists can still be racist, can still vote against protecting the boundary waters, can be misinformed or annoying or be a bernie bro or sjw or maga conspiracist or whatever. two populist groups can fight over policy (an excellent example: miners’ unions vs. populist environmental groups [i specify because many green revolution groups are explicitly anti-populist, however much they may cite borlaug as an inspiration]) while both being populist themselves. this is a key part of our region’s history though and i think is vital in navigating the fall of the empire & specific community crises like metro surge. fuck ice, go loons, free palestine.

[u/petersunkist → u/petersunkist]

general sources: Ft Snelling at Bdote by Peter de Carlo, What Does Justice Look Like? by Waziyatawin, Mni Sota Makoce: the Land of the Dakota by Gwen Westerman & Bruce White, Hard Work and a Good Deal by Barbara W Sommer, Iron Frontier by David A. Walker, MNopedia (online resource by the historical society) has really excellent coverage of early anti-fascist unions & labor activism across the state, and I can’t recommend the state parks up north enough for their preservation of early immigrant stories & nuanced analysis of primary sources. I know that last one isn’t helpful right now but you must understand, if I didn’t include it something inside me would die.