[CKASlacker]

Marcus_Ozius wrote:

Republicans tend to do very well in the sparsely populated western states, Montana, the Dakotas, and others in that region. Essentially, there are only a few states between the Mississippi river and the solidly Democratic pacific coast that are ever contested and this is more a result of a migration to that region by retirees.

Interesting, and very odd at the same time. What effect do the retirement patterns of traditionally Democrat-voting citizens have on the country at large? They stay in blue New York, Massachusetts... who cares. They elect their senators at an even larger margin. If they migrate (en masse) to traditionally "red" states? Well... new ball game altogether.

Of course, this works both ways for aging Boomers. But Republican voters are more rural by demographic, and Democrats more urban, so you would expect more of an increase of retiring Democrats to rural areas than Republicans to urban areas. Who retires from Wyoming to New York City?

[Marcus_Ozius]

That's one of the great concerns for the Republican party. It's uncertain what will happen to their main support base once the retirees fill up the western states. However, the recent credit crisis seems to have slackened the pace of the transition. The mass migration to the sunbelt has slowed down quite a bit. Even so, the Republicans are in trouble.