My right-wing boss who predicted a red tsunami yesterday said

[minstrel76]

56. I'm from Iowa too and I definitely share your dismay about the situation here.

I'm an Iowa native and I grew up in Cedar Rapids, but live in Des Moines now and I know some pretty liberal people here-young and young at heart-who consistently vote Democrat. The problem is, we're all outnumbered here by the MAGAT hicks from the sticks in the rural areas and small towns, as well as affluent conservatives in the small cities and suburbs. However, from what I've observed, the younger, more educated Iowans are leaving not just because of political reasons, but because of economic ones; unless one is dying to work in agriculture, insurance, retail or factory, there aren't a whole lot of jobs around here that would be a good match for most degrees. So, after Iowa has spent all of that money educating the kids that grew up here, most of them leave for other states where there are jobs that better correspond to the fields that they studied and then never come back, except to visit family. It's basically Brain Drain and it's not just Iowa that is affected. But couple Brain Drain with the fact that in the rural areas, conservative talk radio is unchallenged and unfettered and the fact that the DNC doesn't see Iowa as very consequential in regard to national elections, and is therefore not willing to invest the money, time, planning, and resources that it would take to make Iowa a purple state again, and on top of that, take the fact that Republicans are really annoyingly good at tying local Democratic candidates to the so-called coastal elites, regardless of what the local candidate's views and personality entail, and the result is that Iowa basically becomes the conservative shitshow that it is now. Given this, I honestly think about moving away just about every day, but the problem is that, not only do I have friends and family here, Iowa is relatively affordable to live compared to other states where Democrats at least have a fighting chance at winning. My partner and I own a house here, but even if we sold it and moved to a more liberal state, there's no way we'd be able to afford to live there.