Poll: Bush Leads Kerry by 22 points! (but its just Alabama)

[mobuto]

So 61% of adults in Alabama think we're headed in the wrong direction, yet nobody wants to blame the, um, President? With whom does the buck stop? Jacques Chirac?
_____
University of South Alabama/Mobile Register poll. May 9-13, 2004. N=400 adults statewide. MoE ± 5:

"All in all, do you think things in the nation are generally headed in the right direction, or do you feel that things have gotten off on the wrong track?"

Right 29
Wrong 61
Unsure 10

"Generally speaking, is your opinion of Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry / Republican presidential candidate George Bush very favorable, favorable, unfavorable, or very unfavorable?"

Favorable
Neutral(vol.)
Unfavorable
Unsure
George Bush 57 2 39 2
John Kerry 37 4 49 10

"If the election were held today and you had to vote for , who would you choose?"

.

Bush 55
Kerry 33
Neither/ Unsure 12

Bush 54
Kerry 29
Nader 5
None/Unsure 12

http://www.pollingreport.com/sub/al2004.htm
(Subscription Req'd)

[Media_Lies_Daily]

1. That is the most conservative part of the state, and the most...

...conservative newspaper in the state.

I live in the northern part of the state, and I bet the results would be much different.

[mobuto]

4. The poll was conducted statewide

Not just in the South. But it was conducted just of "adults," who may or may not even be registered to vote, let alone willing to.

But no matter how you spin this, I really don't see Alabama going for Kerry in November. Sorry.

[AndyHammond1970]

2. on behalf of Alabama my home

I would like to apologize for the aggregate stupidity of the voters in this state.

I was talking to a man, his wife and his sister today at my store and they both said they supported Bush!

[MoonRiver]

17. Don't feel bad. Retarded lemmings dwell everywhere across this nation!

:argh:

[osaMABUSh]

3. Sweet Home - my ass

You know I've lived in the Northeast most of my life and spent about 10 years in Virginia too.

I'd like to retire somewhere a little warmer than Pennsylvania, like North Carolina, but I'd hate to live in a state where the repuke wins every time by a huge margin and my vote is entirely meaningless, at least at the national level.

Is political climate any way to pick a place to retire in?

[mobuto]

5. Well, do like everyone else

and retire to Florida or Arizona. Sunbelt states are swing states.

[Gildor Inglorion]

6. Strangely enough, no...

I expected Mississippi to be very different from what it is. The vast majority of people vote Democratic at the local level, but then turn around and split their votes at the state & national level. So, here in Stone County, all the elected county officials but one member of the Board of Supervisors are Democrats; the mayor and all but one of the city's Aldermen are Democrats; the US representative, Gene Taylor, is a Democrat (well, kinda); but the two US senators and the Governor and Lt. Governor are Pukes. These people REALLY know how to split their votes. As for the northeast, well, Governor Pataki, the two female senators from Maine, the governor of Massachusetts(!), and many, many others are Repukes. Not to mention the last two mayors of NYC. How a state votes for president has very little to do with how nice the people will be to you on the local level. To me, the choice would be a no-brainer: freeze in the northeast or bask in southern sunshine. Either way, you're going to have to put up with a large number of conservative idiots.

[mobuto]

8. But a Democrat ain't necessarily a Democrat

State and county-level white Democrats in the deep South are very often indistinguishable from Republicans in terms of a left/right continuum. Even statewide, is Riley really any more conservative than Siegelman was? In many ways, he seems considerably less so.

[Warpy]

7. It sure is

I considered a lot of places when I finally decided to leave New England. Other than a kinder climate, I was also looking for a place that had a decent college/NPR radio station and a political climate that wasn't too terribly oppressive.

I ended up in New Mexico, and haven't regretted it.

No offense to any good progessives trapped in Alabama, but when I drove across the country last year to visit my folks in Florida, that was the state with the most poisonous right wing radio that I encountered, with little else represented on the dial. Of course, it was at the height of the Roy Moore hysteria, but it was also statewide. I found no difference between each end of the state.

[demosincebirth]

19. Come to the SF-Oak bay area

Republicans are far and few in-between. Might not be able to afford a home, sad to say...unless you have 3-4oo,ooo bucks laying around.

[Hippo_Tron]

21. Come to Louisiana...

Warm weather and democrats win almost every election. Granted the democrats here are no northeastern liberals. They are basically Republicans without the appeal to the religious right. Nonetheless, they are still better than the pukes if not for the sole reason.

[Stuckinthebush]

9. It's not about Bush being a great president

It's about Bush being a wonderful Christian president.

That's all my fellow Alabamians care about. You can present argument after argument why Bush is bad for Alabama, and they will nod their head in agreement with a simple statement at the end:

"All I know is that George Bush is a Christian. We need a good Christian man in the White House."

Oh, and in case you were wondering - NO, Kerry is not considered a Christian in these parts.

Kerry can take Alabama in one scenario. Roy Moore must get in the race. If this happens, the state will have enough split votes between Moore and Bush that it will go to Kerry.

[demosincebirth]

20. Many fundamentalist don't consider...

Catholics, Christian.

[Hippo_Tron]

22. Texas will go to Kerry much quicker than Alabama...

This is a state you don't even bother trying to save. It ain't gonna happen.

[liberalmike27]

10. Bible Thumpers

I think the biggest explanation to it is that we have a lot of bible thumpers in Alabama. But while I understand the Huntsville area has more liberals, Mobile isn't the most conservative area. Certainly Montgomery, Birmingham, and Dothan along with all of the rural areas are more conservative than Mobile.
I can't explain it too much, but certainly the story of the whole South goes all the way back to States Rights, slavery, and a continuing hatred of the Federal Government.
Examining our state, we are toward the top of most "bad" lists, on the bottom of most "good" lists, and certainly have more poor than most any state in the Union. We'd likely benefit more from having a Democratic administration than most states.
Radio is a factor too. I read somewhere that Rush Limbaugh, and most syndicated right-wingers are played the absolute most in rural areas. Most dupable, out in the country, and very religious.
If anyone saw the Simpson's last night, you saw all the techniques republicans have used, and I must say, the people of Alabama fall hard for all of them, and consistently vote against themselves economically.
I worked for the Dean meet up, many of us have moved on to Nader, as we know Bush is going to win here, even if he kills someone on video they will be saying it's the democrats playing politics. This is just one of those things that makes no sense, but it does prove that peoples' hatreds here apparently matter more than there economic health, as well as that of their family. Go figure.

[Lefty Pragmatist]

11. Rural populations

tend to be highly authoritarian, religious, and conservative. Political history is in large part the pendulum swing between heterogenous, secular, liberal populations and homogenous, religious, conservative populations.

Look at Oregon. 90% of the state's land area is rural and solid red. But 55% of the population lives in a handful of urban districts, so the delegation and the governorship is trending bluer.

BTW, if you want to live in a wonderful climate in a region where local politics is going liberal and statewide politics is gradually swigning left, I'd recommend the research triangle area of NC. Also, salaries are good and the COL is dirt cheap.

[Mz Pip]

12. Things may suck

but dammit we ain't gonna vote for no liberal commie New Englander.

We'll just sit here up to our ears in shit, thank you very much. :crazy:

MzPip
:dem:

[Thrill]

13. Well he doesn't talk

like them. You can't expect folks down there to vote for a northerner.

[RummyTheDummy]

14. Just 22 points?

Looks like Bama is in play.

[sofa king]

15. Voter turnout was modest last time in Alabama.

Right about 50%. Say one out of ten in the state is a Moran who showed up last time but won't this time because he no longer supports the President. Say a further one out of ten in the state is a formerly apathetic Democrat who decides that this time, protest has to be registered even if it is futile. Suddenly, it's a race, with the stupid, the random, and the voting machines providing the critical momentum in one direction or the other.

[JohnLocke]

16. They blame women, blacks, homosexuals, non-Protestants, etc.

[retread]

18. What % of registered voters in Alabama are

African-American?