Will look for the book.

I see no sign that the strategy is failing. Idaho has to be one of the whitest states in the country, and what is the major fear? Aside from a fear that they may have a gay senator, the major fear (and problems generated for Senator Larry) was immigration. Somehow I don’t think that the Idahoans were particularly afeared of Brits, Irish, and Swedes flooding the country.

Can’t recall who wrote it, but there was a book out a few years ago about Kansas where the author looked at an economically-depressed area of Kansas that was one of the strongest supporters of the Republican Party anywhere in the country. It woud be a good start to review that. The author had some ideas, as I recall, but don’t anybody underestimate the problems in creating such a coalition.

OK, I’m only half joking. The thing urban liberal folk are going to run into is the culture difference. Nobody here drinks Starbucks, or cares who directed what movie, or sends their kids to private schools. I don’t actually know anyone here who follows NASCAR, but the whole town shuts down during deer season.

Seriously, even the well-to-do people I’ve met here don’t send their kids to private school. They don’t have to: the schools here still teach you how to read. And speaking of schools, my wife (who grew up in Venice, CA) was amazed that kids walking down the street in the nearby town would wave at us. “And they’re using more than one finger!” she exclaimed.