Polar Opposites

Okee-dokee, I was searching for Michigan news, to escape this stupid New Hampshowa crap. Well, when I clicked on politics in MNewsLive.com mostly Iowa news came up. I scrolled through and found this, regarding how different Iowa and New Hampshire are from each other, not just geographically. Keep reading and I will insert my dumb broad comments throughout, along with why I even posted this. I hope y'all know I am ignoring my Czech pen-pals to post on blogs, only for the moment. I will ignore y'all soon and pay attention to them. My honesty is going to bite me in the ass someday.

• More than geography separates Iowa, NH

• 1/1/2008, 4:29 p.m. EST By DAVID ESPO The Associated Press

• MANCHESTER, NH. (AP) — So long, ethanol. Hello, taxes. More than geography changes when the 2008 presidential campaign leaves the land of flat — aka Iowa — for New Hampshire, the Granite State. The electorate is different, and the blend of issues.

• Which may be why former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee's made-for-Iowa television ad tagline, "Christian leader," has yet to make the trip east across the Mississippi River. In New England, he's a conservative leader.

Fred Thompson doesn't have to play switch-a-roo. He is a conservative leader, who happens to be a Christian.

• "The people of New Hampshire pay attention to Iowa, but it's not the determining factor," Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona observed recently.

Please, change that phrase to fit your state.

• That's a diplomatic way of saying New Hampshire primary voters see little merit in rubber-stamping decisions made in Iowa.

Again, read my previous comment.

• As a group, voters in Iowa and New Hampshire are overwhelmingly white and better educated than the national average.

Two things here. I am thinking of John Cougar Mellencamp's mildly veiled protest song, "Ain't that America," in terms of the "overwhelmingly white" comment. Fill in your own thought.
Does better educated mean more street smarts?

• Still, the differences between them are significant enough to dictate adjustments by the campaigns, even if this year's compressed timetable provides only a five-day interval for changes.

Differences, yes, just as all the states have differences. No other state is as extreme as either one of these states. Most states seem to be more balanced in political views. So why should you let these people dictate how you should think and vote?

• But in New Hampshire, they care somewhat less about health care as an issue than Iowans, and more about the economy. Not surprisingly, they were also less apt to say that jobs are plentiful locally.

• Overall, New Hampshire is more independent-heavy than Iowa. At about 40 percent of the electorate or so, they outnumber registered Republicans and Democrats. They are free to vote in either party's race, a fact that complicates any pre-primary predictions.
• New Hampshire Republicans are more moderate politically than those in Iowa, likelier to support gay marriage, abortion rights and stricter environmental laws.
• Among Iowa Republicans, white evangelical Protestants account for an estimated 38 percent of the population of caucus-goers. In New Hampshire, it drops to about 18 percent, according to the Pew survey. In theory, that will make it more difficult for Huckabee to match the strong showing that pre-caucus polls suggest he will have in Iowa.

• "There's certainly a different focus, more so on fiscal issues, and a libertarian streak in New Hampshire. But I don't see a huge difference between New Hampshire and Iowa voters," Huckabee said recently.

There different, but their not ;).

• Even the method for sorting out the candidates is different.
• New Hampshire has a straight-forward, daylong secret ballot election on Jan. 8 in which voters go to the polls at a time of their choosing.
• Iowa's caucuses on Jan. 3 are essentially neighborhood political meetings, all starting at 8 p.m. EST and each requiring voters to publicly declare their presidential preference.
• Which New Hampshire is free to ignore.
  

Read the full article here.
While I don't think anyone should be swayed by how New Hampshites vote. The last quoting shows why I would give more credence to how New Hampshowites vote.