My latest Brown Theory: Commuters listen to more RW talk radio.

[rgbecker]

Here's a map from the Boston Globe showing those areas which switched from Obama to Brown since Nov. 2008.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/graphics/01_21_10_blue_state_turns_red/

The voters from these areas are the ones driving 1 - 2 hours a day to work, spending 10 - 12 hours a day working to keep their mortgaged house, and buying hundreds of gallons of gas every month. Mainly they are listening to talk radio every morning first thing and every evening as they navigate horrendous traffic congestion.
And you know the daily diet of right wing corporate sports talk if you have dialed the radio dial any time during these hours. constant bashing of Washington which seems to be working for those who will not work, bashing of immigrants, and mainly blaming everything on "Librals". Oh, they hate the "Bailout", but would they consider regulating the banks?

Take a look at the map: The 495/128 corridor, the cape and the entire middle of the state where there are few jobs, but where many have gone to looking for cheaper housing and non integrated schools. Boston, Springfield, the Berkshires, Fall River, Framingham. These are areas where jobs are local, or the commute is via mass transit, (no radio).

Are there any Brown voters on DU? Did you switch from Obama this election? How long is your commute? What do you listen to along the way?

[canoeist52]

1. You've got it right. Captive audience for those hours twice a day.

[brooklynite]

2. Oversimplification...

People don't listen to Talk Radio unless they want to. And it they want to they don't need to be commuting to do it (think about how many poeple listen to Rush at 12 noon).

[MineralMan]

3. Since talk radio is usually the source for weather and traffic info

in most markets, and since the wingers dominate talk radio, I'd guess you're right. My car radio is tuned to the local public radio station, though, and I don't drive in rush hour.

[mdmc]

4. I really think it came down to energy and desire

The GOP was energized and their candidate had the desire to win.
We put up a pretty good showing, but could not match the energy and desire of our opponent.

[FarCenter]

5. Massachusetts has pretty good FM radio coverage everywhere

There is no reason to listen to AM radio, which is where most of the talk radio is.

And lots of people plug in their iPods anyways.

[treestar]

6. Why did they vote for Obama though?

And there are people who can listen to Rush without being pulled into agreeing with him on everything. Some listen for entertainment value and some to see what the RW talking points are.

I'm still amazed by this result though.

[customerserviceguy]

7. Everything you said was true in 2008, as well

and yet Barack Obama won that election. How does your theory account for that?

[rgbecker]

10. Although the RW talking heads spout a lot of support for Republicans,

and Republican talking points, I think those who are on the morning talk shows are more about anti Washington, anti government, bureaucrats can do no good kind of crap. These guys were effective for Obama and for Brown. If you were stuck in your car for an hour everyday each way to a lousy job, worried about your property values and the cost of gas, you would find all that negative anti this and anti that talk right on target. We get a lot if it here on DU too. Its the American way!

[customerserviceguy]

12. Ok, so then under your theory

we would flip and flop back and forth between the two parties as to which one gets thrown out.

I don't think the reichwing radio stations would let themselves be used like that for long. They'd figure out how to change the way they were doing things, to do more than simply make commuters upset with whoever is in power.

I think the reason it looked that way to you in 2008 was that Repukes really weren't that enthusiastic about McCain, and they didn't push him the way they would have if it had been someone who was a true conservative in their minds. I expect them to get over that by 2012.

[Warren Stupidity]

8. There is no left wing talk radio, but I digress.

This was a protest vote. Independent Obama 2008 voters voted for Brown. They did not become tea baggered right wing limbots. They are rightly pissed off about their precarious economic position and a regime in washington that responded by bailing out billionaires and pushing a complicated corrupt and indefensible insurance mandate give away to another set of billionaires as 'health reform'.

Failure to deliver. Failure to connect. Arrogance and corruption. Again, our party stands for nothing and fights for nothing. We are such an easy target when we get power in congress because we stand for nothing and fight for nothing. Had our party pushed for medicare for everyone - a simple easy to understand and defend reform - we would be in a very different position right now.

[jsmithsen]

9. Jobs Jobs Jobs

Huge numbes of people in the Northeast work in Finance, Insurance, Real Estate, or Health Care. They have gained from the "new economy" at the expense of people in the Rust Belt. They are worried about losing their jobs and blame Obama's policy proposals. They believe themselves to be critics of government waste. We have to convince them that their own success is due to government assistance of and oligopoly within mostly non-productive (health care is productive, the others are not) sectors of the economy. And are commuter suburbs of 10,000 people, each with their own sanitation depts examples of "efficiency in gov't)?

[fascisthunter]

11. all we have in Mass is right wing propaganda

the right wing has bought out the media so this is no coicidence. They knew what they were doing... and the treasonous DLC helped make it happen.

[pipi_k]

13. Anyone looking for one answer to the question

is going to drive him/herself crazy, because there isn't just one simple answer.


I would say that it was a thousand tiny cuts that "killed the victim", and not one huge stab wound.