This explains FL turning redder over time...

[Roland99]

From a local FB group

Most people moving here, like me, are leaving democratic run states. We are sick of the leftist bs and abuse of our money to fund their agendas.

There’s a lot of people moving here with that mindset

[NorCen_CT]

1. "We are sick of the leftist bs and abuse of our money to fund their agendas"

What in the ever-loving hell does that even mean?

[Mr. Quackers]

3. It means their perceived sense of injustice

at brown and black people encroaching on their white "prestige" and privilege.

They are threatened, fearful, and live in Sagan's "demon-filled" worlds.

[gopiscrap]

37. it also means they are selfish fuckers who don't

want to help anyone but themselves

[Mr. Quackers]

41. and it begins with racism

[gopiscrap]

43. yup

[muntrv]

57. Yet they move to a state that is over 40% people of color.

[maryellen99]

5. Funding science,education plus they think Dems hate whites and Christians nt

[dem4decades]

6. They no longer have kids so screw paying for education.

Sure taxes were fine when they benefited but other kids, nope.

[dameatball]

14. This has been a big problem since the 60's. When systems are not adequately funded they decline

over time. Your example of the school system is a good one. Even when I was growing up there it was mostly acknowledged that Florida schools were okay but not on a par with the schools "up north." But I would hypothesize that, adjusted for inflation, per capita spending for education is probably less than it was in 1960. I have no idea how to verify that.

[Roland99]

11. It's the Faux News Effect

[NorCen_CT]

15. The main thing that gets me mad EVERY TIME

is that entitled statement of, "MY money going to fund THEIR agendas"...do they really, honestly think that the GOP are the only tax-payers in this country (I don't have the numbers readily available, but between the high number of retirees and millionaires/billionaires not paying ANY taxes, I would bet that the Dems have a higher # of tax-payers than vice-versa).

[Roland99]

16. And it's misguided. Much more of "their" money goes to corporate welfare and warfare...

than to any social safety net

And this is where it really gets me...

A conservative says, "It hasn't happened to me, so I don't care"

A liberal says, "It shouldn't happen to anyone, that's why I care"

[NorCen_CT]

19. Agreed - 110%.

My signature line (Paul Krugman quote) is in the same vein as your last two lines above - and those conservatives who blast any funding going to "Dem" causes, would be the first people out in the streets if any of the GOP causes (which are just whatever the dark-money funding leader of the month wants to have happen) weren't fully funded.

The smartest thing the GOP ever did was to massively cut education spending; thus creating a part of the electorate that they can tell what to think, and who don't have the non-biased knowledge base to know when they are being used as pawns/being lied to.

[Glamrock]

44. Those last two sentences are fucking genius!

Consider them stolen.

[Roland99]

47. Have at it!

I have an image too. Use it as a meme. Can’t post it but you can google it.

[gopiscrap]

46. exactly

[Garrett78]

42. They've been convinced that it's the Democratic Party that has shifted. When in reality...

...the Republican Party has moved drastically to the right, while the Democratic Party has barely budged. It doesn't help that the media and Democrats contribute to that narrative. The false equivalencies are infuriating. Being a Nazi sympathizer is somehow on par with wanting single payer.

[Cattledog]

2. Well you know that "Blue" states actually fund "Red" states.

They payout more in taxes to the Federal Govt. than they get back.

[Mariana]

9. That kind of Republican will never, ever believe that is true. nt.

[Bradshaw3]

4. Same here in AZ with the Californians moving in

Where I live has become a prime spot for Cali RW refugees who come here and trash California.

[JonLP24]

12. I knew people from Orange County and Victorville in AZ

They were no liberals.

[mr_lebowski]

52. I'm a reversal of that trend ;) (nt)

[zipplewrath]

7. Yup

We have a constant influx of retirees that are on fixed incomes. Throw in the historical conflicts between various minority groups and you have an ever changing political landscape.

[Blue_true]

8. Actually, the issue is that a lot of people that likely would vote Dem don't bother to vote.

I see that often. Please remember that President Obama won Florida in both 2008 and 2012, and Bill Nelson easily was reelected in 2012. In the last 7 presidential elections, republicans have only legitimately won Florida twice, Dems have won it four times.

[OnDoutside]

18. I wish someone would come up with a strategy to get these people out to vote.

[Blue_true]

20. Honestly.

Something has to literally hit them in the mouth. Government has to threaten them before they realize that republican government THREATENS them every day, in many ways. People respond to gross loss, they don't reacts to rights and other stuff being trimmed away.

[raccoon]

10. I think a lot of those move to SC too. nt

[octoberlib]

39. They do!. My mom lives in Mulvaney's old district in SC which is like a suburb of Charlotte NC.

Was a Dem district until Mulvaney won. A massive Sun City retirement village had opened up in his district not too long before. A lot of retirees in the coastal regions.

[gratuitous]

13. With the restoration of voting rights to citizens in Florida

The political calculus is going to be substantially different in 2020. Different in a way that favors Democrats, methinks.

[Blue_true]

22. Democratic organizations need to start outreach now.

Don't wait until the General election of 2020 to start engaging those people.

[LisaM]

51. Yes, I think so too.

Don't forget that Jeb Bush and Katherine Harris knocked a lot of people (over 100K, IIRC) off the rolls before the 2000 election, too.

[Act_of_Reparation]

17. There's also a lot of retirees

Elderly skew conservative.

[DBoon]

28. wealthy retirees even more so

people who can afford to live in the Villages are in the top 10% at least

[smirkymonkey]

21. They're old.

They made it through life, so fuck everyone else.

[Historic NY]

56. Don't mess with all you can eat buffet.

[smirkymonkey]

58. Nope. They're hungry, they're on a fixed budget and they're armed.

?quality=0.8

[Tommy_Carcetti]

23. And yet Jacksonville/Duval went blue for the first time in 32 years.

All major cities in Florida went blue.

[Roland99]

24. Do you think Gillum brought out extra racists to vote against him?

[Tommy_Carcetti]

25. I honestly don't know.

That should never serve as a disincentive for any minority candidates to run for office, though.

Sometimes, you just have to grab the bull by the horns and hope the good outnumber the bad.

[Roland99]

26. I hear ya!

[janterry]

35. Yes, I do.

I think Gillum under-performing (compared to Nelson) shows just how racist a state FL still is.

Sure, there are liberal pockets - but you live there. You know those small town ('southern') FL towns. Where the sheriff rules the town. And you don't step over the railroad tracks with too much spring in your step.

Gillum was done in by racism.

I had a supervisor, a few years ago, who tried to rent in one of those towns and was told - Oh, I think you've got the wrong part of town (when they saw her. She's black).

I'm so sad for FL. This is a huge defeat.

[Roland99]

48. I used to work for a company that had me traveling to various counties

to interface with county jail booking systems

Those rural areas were SCARE-EEE

[Barack_America]

27. That's great! Backwards Republican hate has to die somewhere.

I have no problem with these folks flocking from Blue/Purple states and massing in increasingly fewer red states.

Sorry for our Floridian Dems their state has been chosen though.

[Corvo Bianco]

45. It's so sad for decent Floridians.

But you're right.. if the old reds have to go somewhere give them Florida.

[guillaumeb]

29. What percent are retirees?

I know quite a few right wing seniors living in Florida.

[Hotler]

30. Selfish shit stains. I bet when they go out to eat...

they never tip more than a buck.

[Thunderbeast]

31. The math may change

The overwhelming support of suffrage for ex felons many tip the scales to blue.

The march of time will also replace conservative boomers with more diverse immigrants and younger voters.

[In It to Win It]

32. ... then go to Kansas! 😑

[Cousin Dupree]

33. So Florida is a turd magnet

[mainer]

34. Sorry, Florida. You're getting our wacko Tea Party governor

who's so fed up with the state of Maine he's moving to Florida.

[Ace Rothstein]

36. Florida is close every time we lose it.

I don't think we should count on winning the state but we definitely shouldn't give up on it.

[Awsi Dooger]

38. This is more anecdotal garbage, like crossover Republicans voting our way

Florida is not turning significantly more red. I have no idea where that comes from.

Republicans are incredibly energized and well organized in this state, steadily maximizing the voters they have because they realize what a pivotal state it is. That is what is going on. I see it all the time on my suburban block in Miami, and I see it when I visit my Republican aunt with all the flyers and phone calls she receives.

Our energy in Florida is very good. GOP energy is superior. That is not a crime. It is a crime to be in denial and pretend it can't be so. Once Republicans won the net registration numbers in Florida since late 2016 despite Trump as unpopular president, that should be evidence enough that the GOP was relentless and overachieving here.

The Florida electorate is more conservative in midterms. That is logical and it held up again last night. But the numbers were almost identical to the prior midterm in 2014. No shift is going on. In 2014 it was 37% conservatives to 22% liberals in Florida. This time it was 39% conservatives to 22% liberals. That uptick from 37 to 39 probably means the white rural voters who were not involved in 2014 but now have come on board for Trump.

In presidential years like 2016, Florida shifts to 36% conservatives and 25% liberals. That is just slightly more red than a true swing state which would feature 36% conservatives and 27% liberals.

This is my pet category. Very few states are dependably so close to the national numbers in both liberals and conservatives. That's why I have to laugh at anyone who thinks Florida is decisively red and moving away from us. You might as well put on a clown suit if you say that. It is simply a sad outlier situation in which a balanced state has consistently and narrowly been favoring the Republican by less than 2 points and often 1 or less.

Down the road this will be viewed as poor and mostly random Florida distribution over a 20 year period but in real time naturally we've got to whine and overreact since the outcomes are so meaningful.

[Corvo Bianco]

40. Voter suppression is a bigger issue than old people moving.

Relocating is lawful in in both directions.

[dameatball]

49. I worked with a guy in FL that moved his family to Idaho, citing similar reasons. Go figure.

[peekaloo]

50. Exactly. That was my first observation upon my return.

Lemme tell you too that those who complain the most about the gubmint are receiving compensation, in one form or another, from the gubmint. In my experience at least.

I always sneak in a question about what state they grew up in or moved from just to confirm my suspicions.

[mattclearing]

53. Anecdotal. nt

[Zing Zing Zingbah]

54. You get a lot of retirees and the older folks trend more conservative too. n/t

[mikeysnot]

55. When I waste time on FB and see wrong wing memes or comments like this I post this

[Persondem]

59. Well they just approved giving felons their voting rights so they better get ready

to see 100's of thousands of new, mostly blue, voters.