My dad and I are having more political discussions which irritate the crap out of me honestly because he hates republicans just because he was taught to hate republicans. For the record he voted for Trump and will vote for Trump again but eats up what the media says about him he just can't bring himself to vote for a Buttigeig, Sanders, Warren, etc.

He was talking about how in Alabama, Texas, etc that we're all in an echo chamber and there's a lot of people in the country who don't agree with our opinion. Now I concede that Aldeer isn't the place to ask this question because I don't think I've ever read anything on here from one democrat leaning individual.

Are we in that much of an echo chamber or are the population centers in Illinois, NY and Cali the echo chambers? I pulled up that county map from the 2016 election and showed him that to attempt to prove my point that even though Trump lost the popular vote it's just those big cities that feel the way the media does. Literally no one else in this country feels that way.

Also I feel like the way the democrats have been exposed lately by Trump that their own party is losing members. What say you Aldeer?

I know after i went to Atlanta, Nashville and Memfrica last year that i indeed do live in a bubble. Their "norm" ain't the "norm" in your hometown of hartselle.

There isnt a norm, this election is America vs Socialism.

I think no matter how crazy or tame the Democratic nominee is they’ll still approach, if not surpass, 50% of the popular vote. It is largely an urban vs rural thing, but that won’t stop states like Alabama from having less than a 10% margin of victory for Trump in November. It’s closer than you think, even just outside your echo chamber.
And yeah, Aldeer is absurdly biased, and not reflective of any electorate...even in rural Alabama there are Democrats around every corner.

It must be a huge echo camber.

Due to my work history I traveled all over the US. I have good friends WA, CA, WI, ME, AX, NC, PA and others. I spent lots of time in offices in those states and a majority of the people have the same ideals as we do. I don’t believe for one minute we are an echo chamber.

The issue we face is the Demoncrats absolutely kick our butts at coming together to support 1 person and getting to the polls. Us Republicans can’t or rather won’t do that. When we lose elections by a close margin it’s typically because “I cannot stand that guy, even if he’s a republican so I’m not voting”. Democrats historically rally around the primary winner. However, they have a lot of issues this go around so I’m curious to see what happens.

Because in most places around here, you don't have snowballs chance in hell of getting elected without (D) next to your name

Almost every blue county on that map in Alabama and Mississippi is a phenomenal deer hunting county....

In my opinion it is a CITY DWELLER versus COUNTRY DWELLER thing. Just look at that map. The red areas are rural, the blue are population density areas, cities.

Country people tend to be much more self dependent and not have the need for big government. Many even grow their own vegetables, shoot their own meat. They don't depend on the Government for transportation, etc. They don't think meat all comes from the grocery store. The majority have guns in their houses, for both hunting and home defense. They do not like big government.

City dwellers depend on public transportation and other government services much more. The depend on all their food from the local grocery store. They do not like guns and are scared of them. They NEED big Government.

That map reflects that pretty well in most of those states.

2020

Oklahoma got it right. Not a single blue county.

Even the “Red” counties have plenty Democrats. There may be fewer blue ones, but it doesn’t change the total number of bodies on either side. If they show up at the polls, Democrats win the popular vote. The next 10 years of kids coming of age will tilt it way the hell further in their direction. The type of people that prefer to live in the densely populated urban areas have basically inadvertently gerrymandered the map to their own detriment. The electoral college may well get us another Trump term, but the closeness of the race will be absurd given the prolific economy and obvious domestic and foreign policy accomplishments for an incumbent. Soft people bring hard times, and whether you are one or not, you’re definitely outnumbered by them. The US may string together some more good years, but the cycle will repeat

Why is there a blue streak across alabama?

Soil profile

Looks like WV and AK did as well.

Factoid: Prior to Obama in '08 Jackson County Alabama hadn't voted Republican in over 100 years. Hadn't even had a local Republican candidate be elected either. Now it's almost impossible to get elected with a D by your name. See, Obama did do some good things.

Montgomery, Birmingham, Tuscaloosa, Auburn

Black belt?

Democrats love smectitic clay.

Yes, that is the Blackbelt and is a predominately African American population, which explains the voting for Democrats.

Because there are a lot of Democrats in those areas.