cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ca/post/59455315
Former Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura says the people of his state should consider leaving the United States. In an interview on the SpinSisters podcast that premiered Saturday, Ventura pitched his plan by saying that it’s clear President Donald Trump doesn’t want the state.
“How about since Trump dislikes Minnesota so bad and we’re so out of control, let’s join Canada. Instead of Canada becoming the 51st state of America and lose their healthcare… I’d like to see Minnesota, all of us become Canadians,” Ventura said. Make this part of Canada, because it’s obvious Donald Trump don’t want us. It’s obviously he’s ready to fracture the whole country for his own folly."
That 47%-for-Trump figure cannot be explained by gerrymandering, it’s a state-wide figure.
Frankly, I’m trying to make a point here too. I’m pointing out how even when Americans are supposedly being “nice” they’re often still grounding their niceness in unspoken assumptions of American exceptionalism. A bit of America going “we’ll just go join Canada and surely Canada will want to have us” has the same underlying feeling that obviously everyone would like to be American and join America if they could.
Sure it can…Minnesota and US-wide. Even though voter turnout in that state is relatively high…the last federal election saw higher than average Republican turnout and lower than average Democrat turnout.
Furthermore, voting intentions for Trump have fallen dramatically in Minnesota for obvious reasons…while voting against him has seen almost the same rise.
Additionally, voting for Trump isn’t the same as being conservative…there’s are very large cohorts of people who were for example: low information/previously apolitical, the Trump left, and independents and libertarians…it was a motley coalition.
I’d put actual hard conservative support in Minnesota in the 30-35% range. There are far too many people who would benefit from cheaper and higher quality healthcare and education immediately to maintain a number anywhere near 47%.
It’s not a secret that Republicans and conservatives in general can win elections with these low numbers…and round we go.
The point made above though is that anyone voting Democrat is extremely conservative by Canadian politics too; how many Minnesotans are currently willing to vote independent?
I think the reason that Democrats are in trouble is because they don’t represent their voters. There’s a chasm between policy and opinion. That, and they need to win elections by at least 3 and up to 10 points because of how corrupt the US “Democracy” is.
I’m Canadian and I’ve spent some time down in the US…I don’t consider myself to have radically different views…even from many American conservatives…except on a couple wedge issues. The problem, as I see it, isn’t that we’re different…it’s that there are people paying big bucks to convince us that we are.