Finally! Why Vermont and New Hampshire are so different politically

[cali]

Why didn't I figure this out?

<snip>

Vermont’s political landscape began to change in the 1960s and 1970s. City dwellers from nearby states like Massachusetts and New York began fleeing struggling metropolises like Boston and New York City. Heading north, these migrants had a choice of where to settle, and some self-sorting took place.

More conservatives tended to choose New Hampshire, attracted to it’s low taxes and “Live Free or Die” ethos. Vermont, where cows outnumbered people before 1963, tended to attract young, left-leaning and outdoors-loving professionals, both Mr. Nelson and Mr. Johnson said.

<snip>

http://fivethirtyeight.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/10/01/new-vermont-is-liberal-but-old-vermont-is-still-there/

[Mopar151]

1. "The Primary" and the Union Leader

Have drawn Birchers and their followers and successors to NH since the '50's. Many of the icons of NH conservatisim are/were recently arrived from somewhere else (like Mel Thompson and the Loebs), others exist on connections/money from "away" (like the Sunnus and the Bossies).

[Schema Thing]

2. Conservatives like that the mountains of NH are white, and just the right height.

[MelissaB]

3. We visited Middlebury College this summer for my daughter

and I thought I'd died and gone to heaven. Vermont is where I want to be.

You know you're in the right place when the lady doing the information session makes it clear that this is a liberal college. She also pointed out that because the state has such a small population they were able to have a huge influence.

Please, oh please, oh please, let my daughter get into and go to Middlebury.

[cali]

9. lol. Good luck to your daughter.

[MelissaB]

11. Thanks!

[nichomachus]

4. NH is also attractive to retired military

That way they can collect their government pensions and even double-dip without having to pay state income tax. They're usually older and don't have school-age kids, so they don't care that the schools -- apart from a few towns -- pretty much suck.

[slampoet]

6. I admit i was a little shocked how intense the military recruiting was in NH

Seemed they had one of every vehicle at the mall in Nashua back in 2000.

[Mopar151]

15. Same reasons that put so many New Englanders in the NASCAR gararges n./t

[Jennicut]

5. I kind of like both Vermont and NH.

I hate the crazies in NH but love the natural beauty of the state and the White Mountains. And Vermont is quite beautiful as well. I would retire to either state someday if I could. Connecticut is pretty cool but do we have tons of traffic.

[aikoaiko]

7. The homegrown marijuana is much much better due to happy cow manure in VT.

Seriously.

[piratefish08]

14. harvest season is almost upon us! I LOVE VT!

[starroute]

8. I think it goes back a lot further

Doing genealogical research on my husband's ancestors, I've found that a lot of people from Rhode Island moved to southern Vermont or the northwest corner of Massachusetts in the late 1700s. They were the radicals and freethinkers of their day, and I think they established the climate of intellectual openness.

[cali]

10. You're absolutely right. The Vermont Constitution is testament to that

and Vermont was the 1st state to outlaw slavery.

[bunnies]

12. but... but...

We have ocean and you dont. So there.

[cali]

13. OK, that's huge, I admit it.