It was well made. I am suggesting though, that Maine is not by default Bernie country, Clinton country, Trump country, or anything else. We have a great deal of diversity in regards to what we believe, our philosophies, our political ideals, etc.
If Clinton wanted to win Maine? She could. It requires getting out the vote, it requires hard work, campaigning, convincing people that you are the best candidate for the job. Maine didn't go for Sanders because we're not "Clinton country", we went for Sanders because his campaign did a better job, because many areas of our state are severely economically devastated, because we really love this idea of a higher education system funded by the public, universal healthcare - and so on.
We may or may not go for Trump in the general - we went dem in 2008 and in 2012 in regards to the Presidential elections. Obama beat Romney by over 15% of the vote in 2012. That's pretty significant. I would suggest that it indicates that Maine is indeed a potential win for any democrat. It's not just a matter of diversity, or of appealing to one particular race/gender/group. It's, a matter of who convinces the voters of Maine that they are the best for the job. We care about the economy, about the environment, about repairing our infrastructure, particularly about business and job growth in our area because it has been so poor.
Maybe your intent wasn't to trash, in which case I apologize. Your post just reminded me of several of the other posts I have seen insulting states and their residents because of how they voted, whether it was for Clinton, Sanders, Trump, Cruz, or anyone else.
Also, no offense is intended by my post either, I can well appreciate the fact that we have little diversity in my neck of the woods, I can well appreciate the fact that there are indeed rednecks, idiots, tea party members and so on up here. That isn't all we are though. In northern aroostook, if your car breaks down, if you go off the road in snowy conditions... people will pull over to help you out. People up here wave to each other, whether they know (or like) each other or not - and this is regardless of race, gender, or other classifications. There's a lot of great things about my state, even besides it's natural beauty. Some of us might be assholes, but even most of the assholes would help out a person in need (LePage and his ilk excluded).
Unfortunately, too many of the people here vote against their own best interests. I'll never comprehend why a poor person, or a person who believes in progress, would ever for a republican, especially one like LePage. Believe me, it was pretty damn shattering and shameful to me personally when my state voted to elect that despicable excuse for a human being.
It's been a lifelong battle for so many of us up here to move Maine in a more progressive direction. We have failed, for many reasons, but chief among them is poverty, and the apparent inability of our elected representatives to encourage progress and growth.
I am looking forward to moving to MA and being able to eventually get health insurance. I love New England, and MA is a truly beautiful state, I love the old houses, the classic colonial buildings, the respect and appreciation your state has for history. Lots of good things about your state - lots of good things about mine, too.
I'll always have a special place in my home state. The democratic party should not give up on it, we are, for the most part, reasonable people who can be argued with, who can change their minds, who can compromise. There's no reason Maine couldn't go to Clinton in a general.
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