I never understood why Iowa was a RAT state.
Being an Iowan - I have to say that is a bit true, but from my observations and experience - not the driver by a long shot.
Iowa has four primary groups of voters. First - idiot liberals thinking that they are living in a left wing metropolis. This occurs in any metro area >100,000 people in Iowa, and in smaller communities that happen to have Univerisities, colleges, etc. These people are considered idiots around here but they make a lot of noise and get a lot of attention.
The second group is suburban voter. ABout 75% of them have brains, 25% dont as they are transplants from the first group who like to have some space at home when they get back from protesting urban sprawl. Unfortunately, there is another group of farm and blue collar based families and they vote democrat. They have absolutely no clue what the dems stand for today, but they vote dem anyway. Ethanol subsidies don't matter to them either. THey vote dem because they have always voted dem. THey have heartburn from the 80's farm crisis and blame it on Reagan. They are the thick skulls in the state. Smart, hardworiking, but unwilling to give up the past and open their eyes. They take a break from hunting to vote for Harkin while he works to take away their guns. THey are blind.
I hope my state can help kick O out of office, I'm just not confident.