In his latest opinion column in The Baltimore Sun, Political Science Professor Thomas Schaller responds to an op-ed he wrote last month about the Western Maryland Initiative, an effort that calls for the state’s five western-most counties to secede from the state.
Schaller suggests that if people in those counties dislike Maryland’s politics, a solution is to move to a neighboring state that better reflects their ideology:
Among the blessings of our federal system are the variations across the 50 states. Conservatives usually champion these differences and states’ rights; indeed, they frequently employ the “vote with your feet” metaphor to encourage persons or businesses unhappy with one state’s political-electoral environment to find another state where they can start a business, buy a home or just gamble for a few hours. One of them, Texas Gov. Rick Perry, just stopped by Maryland to make that very point.
He also provides examples of people who recently moved from Western Maryland to West Virginia, including former Republican Rep. Roscoe Bartlett.
You can read the full column Don’t secede; vote with your feet in The Baltimore Sun.
Tags: CAHSS, PoliticalScience
