okay so i've sorta gamed this out and i'm 2 beers in so yeah, senate flipping thread

here's the list of towns/cities we should export the extra NY/CA libs to:

-fargo, ND
-sandpoint, ID
-libby, MT
-omaha, NE
-sioux falls, SD
-cheyenne, WY
-harpers ferry, WV

explanations below https://twitter.com/mjs_DC/status/1324466104014614532

a lot of the coastal lib resistance to the idea of relocation is not wanting to live in "hostile territory," which is why you all pick a specific place and move there -- create a densely-populated enclave, sort of like a little italy or chinatown but for liberals

we'll start with easier ones

omaha, NE: already went blue in 2020! not the whole state, but the district. it's an already "friendly" city so why not pile more folks in and get 2 more EVs and 2 more senators out of the deal?

~300K to flip the state, or 0.11 brooklyns

yes, we will be using brooklyns [2.6 million people] as a unit of measurement

for CA libs, that's about 3 san franciscos (SF proper, not the bay area as a whole)

harpers ferry, WV

an east coast option for boswash libs, this is a really cool choice:

-gorgeous scenery
-site of john brown's uprising before the civil war
-90 minutes from DC by train! you can commute from here!

WV will need about 400K to flip, so we need 0.15 brooklyns

let's head out to the thinly populated mountain states now: ID, ND, SD, and WY. a lot of coastal libs consider this "the middle of nowhere" so to allay that fear i've chosen places that are within striking distance of traditional shitlib hubs and (mostly) have amtrak connections!

sandpoint, ID

-awesome location, huge mountains next to freshwater beaches!
-cute walkable downtown, plenty of room to grow
-via amtrak empire builder you're 6 hours from spokane and 10 hours from seattle or portland

idaho will need 400K, or 0.15 brooklyns

libby, MT

MT is tough as it's spread out, so i went with the westernmost amtrak stop, 2 hours east of sandpoint

libby is a mining town that got utterly screwed by asbestos poisoning, so we can send over 200K environmentalists (0.08 brooklyns) to help screw the industry back

fargo, ND

-biggest city in ND, sorta famous from that movie
-college town, seat of ND state university
-6 hours from minneapolis by train, 14 from chicago
-regional cultural hub
-voted obama in 2008!

150K could be enough, but we'll do another 200K to be safe (0.08 brooklyns)

sioux falls, SD

-biggest city in SD
-4 hour drive to minneapolis, no passenger train at present but the tracks are there!
-healthiest city in the US!
-college town with a half-dozen universities

SD will need another 200K, 0.08 brooklyns

last but not least: cheyenne, WY

-on the colorado border, 90 minute drive to boulder and denver (could join front range rail project!)
-cool union pacific museum for train nerds
-hosts largest outdoor rodeo in the US

another 200K (0.8 brooklyns) would do the trick for WY

so let's tally that up:

omaha, NE - 300K
harpers ferry, WV - 400K
sandpoint, ID - 400K
libby, MT - 200K
fargo, ND - 200K
sioux falls, SD - 200K
cheyenne, WY - 200K

that's 1.9M people, or 0.73 brooklyns/2.1 SFs

and you get 14 safe senate seats and 26 safe electoral votes

so the solution isn't to hate the thinly-populated red states

instead, we just hug them until they turn blue in the face