On Nov. 5, 2024, Trump’s trumpets were sounding.
In one of the smallest margins since 1888 of 1.48% popular vote, Trump won the 2024 presidential election, according to the Federal Election Commission.
Republicans across the nation rejoiced, while Democrats couldn’t help but wonder how this could happen.
Growing up in Iowa and transferring to UVM from a university in South Dakota, I found the presidential race results worrisome but not unexpected.
I arrived in Vermont directly after the 2024 presidential election. While every state may have its own cultural and political norms, Vermont’s were a shock to me.
Vermont is a well-known blue state and has not voted red since 1988, according to the Vermont Elections Database.
Soon after settling in, I discovered that many people here are largely unaware of the opinions held by nearly half of the U.S. population.
When talking with my friends at UVM, the political bubble surrounding the state of Vermont and the city of Burlington was made obvious to me.
Trump’s victory was mystifying to my friends, yet I was stunned by how estranged they were from the dominant political beliefs held in the U.S.
This phenomenon is what I’ve heard referred to as the “blue bubble.” This cultural bubble surrounding democratic states results in an unawareness of the reality of the U.S. political climate.
Let’s pop it.
Of the 369,422 of the ballots cast in Vermont, 32.32% went to Trump, and 63.83% went to Harris, according to the FEC.
While Vermonters don’t all share the same political values, extreme geographical political polarization can create the illusion of political homogeneity, according to a February 2023 article in the journal Cognitive Research: Principles and Implications.
There is a false sense of political homogeneity in Burlington.
In the 2024 presidential election in Burlington, 84.13% voted Democratic, while 10.74% voted Republican. It makes sense that the election results were unanticipated, as a majority of the city has similar ideologies.
In contrast, many cities and counties in Vermont showed a more balanced or even Republican-leaning result.
For example, Castleton had a nearly equal Republican-to-Democrat ratio, and Holland had a majority Republican vote, according to the 2024 General Election Canvass Report.
After discussing with some of my friends who grew up in the area, many indicated that living in Vermont felt like a “safety net.” Issues such as reproductive rights, discrimination policies and worker’s rights are protected at greater lengths in blue states than in red.
However, residing in a blue state cannot protect us from everything. Post-election, many state policies have been impacted by federal initiatives and executive orders.
Living in an illusion of political homogeneity can create a disconnect with the issues our nation is facing, as there are far more red than blue states. To be exact, 31 of the 50 U.S. states voted red in the 2024 election.
As a blue state, we must pop our bubble before the ghosts of the U.S. past, present and future do it for us. Issues, beliefs and policies occurring in red states are not merely distant issues but threatening to all.
