>>>I was surprised by Virginia as well. Along with Florida, assuming the presumed recount holds up.
>>
>>Virginia ain't what it used to be. Northern Virginia is now pretty much a suburb of Washington, and voting accordingly.
>
>In my time there I saw just one big change - the vanishing of the industry. The textile production was just dying off by the turn of the century (I know we bought a lot on wall-to-wall farewell sales from a few outlets which then vanished). I saw furniture production get reduced to 4% of what it used to be in a place in southern Virginia, and even that may be gone by now.
>
>OTOH, what remained steady was the gov't jobs - the shipyards, the military/naval/air/marine, NASA, CIA outposts - these stayed and even somewhat flourished. And people know where their bread is buttered.

When I was a kid in Maine two of the biggest industries (employers) were textiles and shoe shops. All gone now. The jobs didn't pay well but they paid enough to get by in Maine.