How does your state kick so much butt?

[Terran1212]

Grassroots democracy puts two independent leftists in office (one a socialist who will be going to the senate) and stands up with organized people against organized money time and time again.

And voting to impeach Bush?

This is a wet dream in my residence of a VERY red county of Georgia (one of reddest in nation).

Hats off to you!

[Oak2004]

1. Two?

We've got way more than two.

http://www.progressiveparty.org/elected/

[cali]

2. Partly it's 'cause we're tiny

and it's easy to be engaged. We have the second smallest population of any state, and we're small geographically. We also have a history of engagemnent- town meeting and all. Our politicians our extremely accessible. I've met all three of out congressional reps several times. In the sixties and seventies we had a large influx of people with liberal viewpoints. We have a sizeable number of public intellectuals and artists who either live here full or part time. Despite our republican history, we have a rich tradition of upholding liberal and progressive values. We were the first state to outlaw slavery. In the twentieth century it was Senator Flanders who turned the tide against Sen. McCarthy, Senator Aiken who said about Vietnam: "Let's just declare victory and get the hell out." and Senator Stafford who championed education opportunities and the environment.

That about sums it up, and thanks.

[DianeK]

3. I would consider myself to be conservative...

on economics and compared to g w bush..almost anyone would appear conservative..but up here even the staunchest republicans are socially liberal and I think the reason for that is because we are such a small state and we tend to know each other and the troubles we endure, so it puts it on such a personal level..when we vote on our school budget, we are voting with all the children we know in mind and the same for senior issues, etc....it is not ideological, it is personal

[TaleWgnDg]

4. social liberalism was a part of the Republican Party . . .

Vermont has stayed the course. All while the rest of the country . . . those outside the northeast area . . . have adopted the stupid narrow-minded in-yer-face so-called "conservative" social policies w/i the Republican Party.

In short, Vermont and others w/i the northeast states who've remained w/i the Republican Party also remain social liberals. That's not new. It's old. Staid. And true. Jim Jeffords is a model of this. He and his political family of origin back to the party of Lincoln. Jeffords jumped ship when the stupidity w/i the Republican Party got so damn out of control in Washington reflecting the rightwing bent of that party. Who the hell can blame him?