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One thing about "blue" states and "red" states that most people who think all you need to do is move and live happily after. All it takes is a single election to turn the tables. I live in NY, and people might not realize it but we had a Republican governor in the recent past, and there's a loudmouth Congressperson stirring the pot (and probably auditioning to be Trump's running mate) with her TV ads about how immigrant "terrorists" are pouring into NY from Canada. Her name is Claudia Tenney, and she won her district in the last election by a landslide.

Moving is expensive, and to uproot oneself from home is not an answer. No matter where we live, we all are supposed to enjoy the same rights.

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Same/agree. Grew up in NY and moved for work (to blue and red states alike) for 20 yrs, landed in Indy in 2016 shortly after the regressive anti-gay work laws put in place by PENCE, that were greatly opposed by businesses there (the moderate GOP which is now gone). We arrived to see "Pence must go" signs everywhere and he was on the verge of being recalled when 'whoosh' came a storm and Trump's plane was grounded for a few hours and he dined with Pence and a no-account soon to be recalled politician was elevated to VP instead of being 'retired' by local voters. We left Indy in 2020 to come to NY because I was sure NY being more progressive would be safer, but it's not. The GOP is everywhere and there is regressive policy to contend with here, and there's a lot of political struggle here and in CA right now. What we did learn though is that plenty of people in Indy shared our more progressive views but 20 yrs ago as Jess said, the city incorporated the conservative suburbs and the GOP gerrymandered Indy so badly we were in the middle of the city getting our votes cancelled out by a white wealthy suburb and a handful of farms where people drink the Kool aid about policies that actually don't affect their own lives but do affect others (gay marriage? trans laws?) I encourage people to stay and run against the MTGs. The opposition may be well funded, but they are not smarter, better people to govern. Just watch a day in the life of the House right now and it should be obvious that we need ordinary well intended people taking up the cause to govern to keep the malignant people from controlling what happens to the people they don't like. Right now MTG is almost single handedly losing the war in Europe. All it takes is one to change the course for countries of people. Go Jess.

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"... and there's a loudmouth Congressperson stirring the pot (and probably auditioning to be Trump's running mate)"

Gee, I thought you were talking about Elise Stefanik! (I'm in NC so I don't see the NY ads).

We've got Mark Robinson (R) running for Governor and I am working hard as I can to make sure that Josh Stein (D) wins instead. Check out www.realmarkrobinson.com if you want to see what we are up against.

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I'm also in NC. Moved to western NC for retirement in a few years. There are pockets of blue and perhaps we will change the tide as more blue moves in? I can't believe (yes I can) that repubs are fielding Robinson for governor!!?? I pray we can overcome this travesty and get Josh Stein elected.

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Hi, fellow Tar Heel. I love the mountains in WNC - I'm in the Piedmont area - ground zero in Mecklenburg County with lots of Dems that don't vote. Grrrr. Maybe this time people will wake up to the threat.

I have been writing voter registration postcards with Field Team 6 (www.fieldteam6.org) and GOTV letters with Vote Forward (www.votefwd.org) for NC. Also VoteRiders is sending out letters to alert people about NC Voter ID - you add a brief handwritten message to a form letter designed specifically for NC and then hand address an envolope. I signed up for these through Big Tent USA (https://www.bigtentusa.org/take-action-2/).

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Thanks for the info. We have a very active Dem group here in Henderson County. Due to my job, I don't get involved in politics at all. Hatch Act. But, I bet I could do the postcards without violating that, as long as I don't have to use my name. I'll check with one of the Dem leaders who goes to our church.

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Amazing you maybe can't write postcards for voting due to hatch act but SCOTUS is actively taking up a case on obstruction law used to charge hundreds of the lynch mob that flew the Confederate flag in the US capitol in order to progressively overturn lower court rulings to limit obstruction to paper shredding so they can overturn the many convictions, and there are reports of investment from MBS to the tune of several billion to Kushner and MBS bragging he's in his pocket and the rest of the shell game financial crimes of that tribe...uugh. the hypocrisy is neverending with the special rules for the wealthy and criminalizing normal behavior for average people (like seeking healthcare). It's like sand in the mouth. Thank you for making an effort even when it is limited by your livelihood. Godspeed and be careful.

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Thank you. I have 2 more years until retirement. Then the Hatch Act won’t apply.

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Many thanks to you!

Brava! 👏🏻

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I love Vote Forward. Will be postcarding for them again.

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20+ yrs ago there was a movement for religious conservatives to take up residence in SC and take over all offices down to school board level and then secede from the union. Article in vanity fair, it was a real thing. I suspect that became the blueprint for states where taking over the whole of state and local gvmt was easier to do then.

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I was living in SC at that time.

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Did you see it coming? What did it look like on the ground? I know it was a different time, but is there anything we've learned from that time/place except that regressives ran for offices when nobody was looking and mistaken in thinking we were all playing by the same rules?

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This is happening now in green county Wisconsin.

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They are calling themselves arrows and they have been very quietly and effectively moving into local government positions.

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Wow. And yikes.

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Claudia Tenney's ad has played every weekday evening during "Jeopardy." She's actively fearmongering and hoping this ridiculous immigration stance where she openly calls for a "return to President Trump's policies" are a blatant bid on her part for Trump's attention. There have also been ads by right wing organizations criticizing Gov. Hochul. This is something new - partisan political ads made by orgs and politicians who are not running for office.

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Apr 18
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Yes, and somebody funneled money to get her elected again, and is paying for her noxious and mendacious TV ad. She specifically mentions Trump's racist immigration "policies" and I'm convinced that she's pandering to Trump and MAGAs. There are a lot of immigrants in NYC but there haven't been any pouring into the US via Canada. You'd have to be a seasoned hiker to find your way through Adirondack Park from the heavy forests of Southern Ontario to get to NYC from there. It's preposterous, but that's what Tenney is selling.

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That's funny (not funny)...and true. The illusion that the Canadian border is a loose knit sweater, nothing could be further from the truth, definitely not in NFalls/Bflo or the mountains. This isn't the southern border in San Diego or Bizbee AZ.

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Ginning up a phony "crisis," lying to the public, both are so typical of MAGA.

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I wonder about the squirmishes at the southern border also, lecture from Greg Braden re his being in London at the start of the war in Gaza (which was in GMT daytime so overnight for US) and then on the ground in the region, he said US news is completely sanitized and we don't see what other countries are seeing.

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It's true. Many foreign news outlets' stories are available online in English and their coverage is very enlightening.

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I’m a 6th generation liberal Texan and I will fight and speak out against the fascist attitudes that have overtaken this state. I have neighbors who have learned the hard way that I will not tolerate their rhetoric or their hypocrisy.

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Wow. Yay. I remember watching the doc about how the Bush team unseated Kay Bailey Hutchison by Karl Rove putting flyers on cars depicting gay males w/ S+M bondage and captions that KBH was letting the state go to the immorals and they would be on your doorstep tomorrow, and when you type in her name, you get the convention center and not a wiki page about what a groundbreaker KBH was. It's been a slow but ugly march across the great state of Texas. Thank you for being willing to tell people what they don't have the good sense to see for themselves.

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If you truly care about a place then you want to recognize its problems, fix them and make the place better. Those who tell you to move are the ones that really don't care about a place.

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"This is my state too". Absolutely! If you don't like me, then you can move. I'm here to change some shit.

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FUCK YEA!

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Sis, that's a beautiful picture

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❤️

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Love your attitude!

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Most people call red states conservative. You call them regressive states. Kudos! You absolutely nailed it!

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Thanks for your post, Jess. I live in a state that was once rabidly red. It is now purple and trending toward blue. I'm not sophisticated or knowledgeable enough to understand all the reasons why this is happening, but it is. I'd like to think one factor for this, is that the progressives among us stayed and did not give up. Just like you, we thought, "This is our state, too."

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I can't tell you enough how many times I have been told the same thing. I'm a liberal in a Red State and my children and grandchildren are in two states, both Red States. I vote in every election knowing that someday my vote will one that puts the BLUE HUE back in these Red States.

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Yeah baby!

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Hopefully, we will gather more and more people who are willing to speak up against the right. I’m so disgusted by the legislation in Missouri, but the grass isn’t always greener on the other side and we shouldn’t allow politics to drive us from our home state. We belong here.

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Bravo! I’ve never understood that throw away answer “move”

I’ve always thought why should I move? Your answer is brilliant. It’s so important to stay. We have to be heard that’s the only way to combat all the extreme nonsense from fully taking over.

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Fight the good fight! We appreciate you!

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The effects of COVID on the purpling of America is pretty cool. So many city folks, largely Dems, have picked up and moved out to areas known as red strongholds. Will be interesting to see echoes of this in November and beyond. Just saw an article about Bakersfield being the new bailout spot for those fleeing LA costs and hassles. Bakersfield.

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I moved to Bakersfield from Orange County because I couldn’t afford OC any more. I hate it here.

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I'm sorry. I just am not surprised... Hopefully more affordable as a good starting point.

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Yes you need to stay as long as the atmosphere doesn’t turn unsafe for you and yours. It feels like we are just yelling into the abyss at times, but we never know who is listening and gaining strength to join.

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Absolutely. I would never move out of Michigan (again) because I adore living in the middle of the Great Lakes. And so I’ve worked to improve our state. Your home state is your home; make it what you want.

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You give me as much hope as the sunshine today 🙏☀️

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Thank you for this, you made me think. I've often said this...I read once "if you don't like where you are, move, you're not a tree " and I have always agreed with that position. I'm Mexican and living in Buffalo, NY now, so I moved and I can tell you, my heart will permanently be broken in two no matter where I am. I understand your point of view and I thank you, you have said before you are not brave but I disagree completely. You are.

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Buffalo too. It's not the easiest of places to be sure. Lived in a Spanish speaking city in CA for years and people seemed to agree more (and more fun culturally if I'm being honest). But there are pockets of love here and hope you are finding them. Go to the farmers market on bidwell and the food festivals in the summer, and see the local artist galleries if you can. Find the old west side Italians and you can make good friends here.

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So glad I got to grow up in CA with Mexican friends and coworkers. I want tons more Americans like that!

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I'm worried about the area becoming purple, but I do love it here. Looking forward for the summer and all the activities nearby (South Buffalo), I'll look up that farmers market. Thank you

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South Buffalo used to be an Irish stronghold but I hear it's changing with time and new people, and my partner noted that almost all of his clients during pandemic were people moving here from California and NYC. If you're a person of faith it can also help to get active in those orgs. Rachel Maddow said in a recent lecture the most important thing we can do is stay active in our local communities and make friends and reach out to neighbors about things other than politics because these are the ties that bind and inform us about others and provide motivation to move away from the extreme intolerance being modeled by GOP politicians.

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I'm trying to do that little by little. It was hard in the beginning cause my husband and I travel a lot, but I'm recovering from back surgery and I have the time and disposition so I actually started volunteering at Cazenovia Park library. I think one of our purposes in life should be to become a good neighbor and just be kind to each other. We have to combat misinformation and hate somehow, and I want to do it with love.

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I hope your back is healing well. Caz Park is a nice spot, and I agree the answer to the hate is to make more friends in your neighborhood. The lecturing about tolerance can go both ways and it's harder to get sucked up into rhetoric about us and them if one has a few 'them' friends, whoever that might be from where one is standing. Making connections can change the course of things when they are challenging for sure.

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Right-wing saying ‘get out’ or ‘move!’ are so immature & unAmerican and don’t even realize how bad they look. But I can’t pity them, as they always are behind policies that hurt the average person.

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And yet those same people will complain about migrants and say they should stay and change their countries Z

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