Why is the Concord Area so liberal? (Boston, Lexington: universities, to live in)

[investtt]

I was looking at election results and was suprised to see how liberal the rich rural towns of Concord/Carlisle/Sudbury/Bedford/Acton are.

In 2004, it was almost 2 to 1 in favor of Kerry over Bush.

I'm curious as to why you think this is while similar towns on the North Shore and South Shore are much more like 50/50.

[investtt]

I know that the South Shore, also known as the "Irish Riveria" has a lot of people from White Flight who used to live in South Boston/Roxbury Area. Does this explain why it's more conservative?Maybe the Concord Area has more "rooted residents?"

[findingmesomeday]

The entire state is liberal. There are pockets of conservatism rather than vice-versa.

[litlux]

Voting for Kerry means one is liberal? And he is not someone that "rich" people would vote for? Those are the implications you made with your question. And it reveals a lot about your own political leanings, and where you might or might not be comfortable.

It is possible some of us voted for him because he has been our Mass. Senator for some time, and is in fact far less "liberal" than our other Senator.

It is also possible that in Concord, Lexington and environs, you know, the "cradle of liberty" (as in freedom from dictators and Kings named George) the people tend to be more liberal. It is where the first shot of the American Revoltion (The shot heard round the world) was fired.

The people of those towns are also rather well educated, another reason they might have chosen him over the alternative.

[smarty]

I agree with litlux....

Voting for Kerry means one is liberal?

On the other hand.... those towns are liberal... ummm.. may be they are affected by Thoreau (Born in Concord)

Henry David Thoreau Quotes

God reigns when we take a liberal view, when a liberal view is presented to us.

[ogre]

Lexington is well known in the area for leaning far to the left and being a bastion of political correctness. The reason seems to have a lot to do with Lexington's proximity to the universities a little north of Boston (MIT, Harvard, Tufts), which leads many professors and administrators to find Lexington a convenient suburb to live in, causing Lexington's politics to be affected by the tendency for academicians to lean well to the left. Lexington has a suburban character, while Concord, a little farther to the west and away from Boston, is exurban. I don't know, but I wonder whether there might not be a fairly large academic presence in Concord as well as Lexington, made up of those members of the various university faculties who want to live in a town that's still fairly convenient to their work, but prefer a place that's a bit more out in the country than Lexington.

[miu]

investtt - Why the thumbsdown icon this post? Do you have something against liberals? lol. I spent most of my childhood in Concord. It's a great place to grow up in. I got a great education and didn't get picked on by bullies.