This election, the South looks much less Republican

Source: Christian Science Monitor

VININGS, GA. — Paul Ruiz just traveled 4,500 miles from his Hawaii home to resettle in tiny Vinings, Ga., one of the wealthiest corners of Cobb County. Having been a Georgian for just one week, he’s only vaguely aware that Cobb County has long been the South’s version of California’s Orange County – a fount of conservative thinking and thinkers. It was the home base of conservative icons Rep. Bob Barr and House Speaker Newt Gingrich. It has been a Republican stronghold for decades.

But like many newcomers, Mr. Ruiz is an independent who votes “character over party.” And he and his wife, also an independent, will be voting for Hillary Clinton. It hasn’t been an easy decision, but, he says, “being Hispanic, what Trump has been saying, well, it’s just hurtful.”

This presidential election, something new and surprising has been burbling under the surface. Some polls show Texas being closer than Pennsylvania. Virginia has become a rock-solid Clinton state. North Carolina could follow. And thanks to voters like Ruiz, Georgia – remarkably – could be in play.

Broad national polls disguise the fact that Mrs. Clinton is making significant headway in the South. Donald Trump will still likely win most of the region, but the margins are much closer than they were in 2012, when Mitt Romney swept the South easily. Compared with 2012, the South “has swung toward Democrats by a net of 6 points,” writes Nate Silver of the FiveThirtyEight data journalism site.

Read more: http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/2016/1026/This-election-the-South-looks-much-less-Republican

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There's much more in the linked article, it's well worth a read.

And I certainly hope that some of the blue shift can change the makeup of our state government in Georgia soon, we desperately need it.