[rayiner]

> That self-selection left Republicans not a competitive amount of credibility or voter pool behind to work with.

So by your logic New York is a better governed state than Florida? Net internal migration would seem to disagree.

[jacobolus]

> New York is a better governed state than Florida

Yes, New York is significantly more successful than Florida in almost every way: Better education, better healthcare, longer life expectancy, less pollution, lower crime, more productivity, higher wages, more amenities, better transportation infrastructure, less poverty, happier residents, and so on.

[const_cast]

> So by your logic New York is a better governed state than Florida? Net internal migration would seem to disagree.

Yes, and it's not even close. Choose just about any metric and NY is running laps around Florida.

And, not just Florida, but red states in general. If you look at the metrics, they typically are some of the poorest states with the worst outcomes. Bad infrastructure, bad education, not a lot of job opportunities, horribly impoverished, under-developed.

It's just that nobody cares. Nobody expects Louisiana or Florida to be decent places to live. But since California is the economic powerhouse of the US, people do expect it to be decent. That's the issue, the blue states are essentially carrying the economy of everything else on their back, so they now get a new, unfair set of standards.

There's some exceptions here, mainly Texas.

[_heimdall]

Is it your opinion that the only factor relevant for those deciding what state to move to is quality of government?

I'm surprised that things like the job market wouldn't come into play, for example.

[rayiner]

I think quality of governance is a major reason, yes. When my parents immigrated to this country, they moved to a deep red state (Virginia) instead of the deep blue state next door (Maryland). Why? A focus on good schools, low crime, and low taxes, instead of a focus on economic redistribution.

[_heimdall]

I may have misunderstood, when you said internal migration in the earlier comment I assumed that was referring to people moving from one state to another rather than immigrating from another country.

> A focus on good schools, low crime, and low taxes, instead of a focus on economic redistribution.

That's also interesting. I wouldn't have rolled that up to quality of governance, but I could see why you would. To me that falls more into a sign of long standing culture, I could see a place with existing policies that match now having a terrible administration in charge.

[rayiner]

> may have misunderstood, when you said internal migration in the earlier comment I assumed that was referring to people moving from one state to another rather than immigrating from another country.

I was just giving an example—people moving within the U.S. make the same choice. When I was growing up, Virginia was like Florida is today: a red state with a booming economy, low taxes, and a good business climate. Why did AOL start in the farmland of Loudon County instead of the farmland of eastern PG County (which is closer to DC)?

> That's also interesting. I wouldn't have rolled that up to quality of governance, but I could see why you would.

It’s a cultural trait that strongly affects governance. The government can focus its energies on making things better for middle class people and businesses, as Virginia long did, or it can focus on poor people and minorities, as Maryland long did. And the resulting differences in governance are quite apparent. Virginia has better schools, ore employment, and has grown faster than Maryland over the last 50 years.

[shadowgovt]

To be clear: if they moved to Virginia, they did not move to a deep red state.

Maryland is a deep-blue state. Virginia is about as red as Pennsylvania.

[hollerith]

The two are related: bad governmental policy can make employers leave a state and make employers that choose to stay less prosperous.

[PaulDavisThe1st]

... because nobody moves to Florida for (what they perceive of) the weather, right? Especially not retirees tired of the idea of one more winter in NY.

[shadowgovt]

Exactly. If I'm looking for an explanation of Florida immigration / New York emigration, "an aging populace" is where I'd start.