A New York Times blog post predicts that Vermont will vote boringly blue in upcoming presidential elections. But, in an admirable effort to address our nuances, the post’s author, Micah Cohen, suggests that our state races might be less bland. Cohen cites the presence of residual patches of libertarianism and fiscal conservatism, comparatively weak party identification (due to no party registration and our open primaries), and our small size and population (making it easier to reach voters) as factors that could give Republicans a chance in upcoming elections.
Cohen also reflected on a number of Vermont’s quirks, some more politically pertinent than others — cows used to outnumber people, Vermont is the second whitest state, Shumlin is the first native governor in nearly 40 years, and so on. Cohen interviewed two political science professors, Bertram Johnson from Middlebury College and Garrison Nelson from UVM.
The article can be found here: http://fivethirtyeight.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/10/01/new-vermont-is-liberal-but-old-vermont-is-still-there/
