Hello, I’m Tyler and this is Political Jungle. Today we focus on the voters.
So, America is made up 50 states. In November all them plus Washington D.C. will vote on a new president. Until then we can only guess how they will vote. Hence leaning and solid ratings, and, of course, the toss up rating. But behind those statistics there are people, and other factors.
Money
Everybody knows the tagline, Are you better off today than you were four years ago. The most popular way of measuring this is financially. Quite a few states have seen their unemployment rate go down, including Ohio. However, some states, like Nevada have seen their unemployment rate go up. So it boils down to who will help us get out, and polls show Americans are divided on this. Some say President Obama, and they point to his auto industry bailout. However, others point to Mitt Romney, showing his work at Bain capital.
Location
Yes, where you live can show how you vote. Some states, like New York, are overwhelmingly Democrat, while others like the Midwest, are overwhelming Republican. You don’t move there because they vote like you, you’re there and they think like you. The Midwesters love their guns, and hate big government. Sound familiar, that’s Republican. While other states, like California and New York, support gay rights, and a lot have the highest income tax rates. Those states are Democratic. On a more local level, cities are more Democratic, while rural areas tend to be Republican.
Political rating
This may seem obvious, bit if you live in a leaning or a toss up state you’re more likely to be an Independent, and you’re subject to more political ads. Interesting tidbit, Democrats tend to have more states in their leaning column then Republicans. Many states that go Republi