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This kind of annoys me because it's just not true. I'm pretty left wing myself and from the West Coast, but I find most people who live here are pretty conventional and "conservative" in their beliefs and wants even if they vote Democrat. Plus a lot of people vote GOP here. Oregon, Washington and California were "swing states" until up to a couple decades ago and still have a slightly higher proportion of self-identified conservatives than self-identified liberals. Most people here support the death penalty and oppose gun control and many people oppose gay marriage and support the War on Drugs. I'm pretty sure California would be a conservative voting state if the GOP wasn't so racist.
People misunderstand the West Coast mentality. It's not a humanitarian, vegan, feminist, or Marxist identity even if there are a minority of people on the West Coast who are into such things. Nor is it the intensely hedonistic place people might think considering Vegas and Hollywood are here. In fact I'd say Westerners are easily the least "party minded" of Americans, preferring to just hang out with their old friends from high school and most people here are more into drinking than dancing or singing.
It's far more libertarian than "liberal", too - socialism would not fly well even to most "liberal" West Coasters and this region has always been in love with money, from the Gold Rush to Silicon Valley.
Westerners support gay rights and cannabis mostly out of indifference, it's not because Westerners are more enlightened or compassionate than people from other regions, it's merely they are less likely to be Christians and people don't care about who their neighbors are here, or getting to know them.
Very well said, I feel like you hit the nail on the head(except for the GOP is racist comment). From what I have seen at least in Washington and Oregon, once you leave Seattle/Portland, its more moderate/conservative-even in the suburbs. Vancouver, Washington is just across the river from Portland and it is very conservative compared to Portland. Many of the liberals have even nicknamed it "Vantucky" and the county it is in(Clark county) "Clarkabama."
California Outside of The Bay Area and trendy parts of LA is very moderate to conservative. There's a reason why the same sex marriage initiative didn't pass in this state.
California Outside of The Bay Area and trendy parts of LA is very moderate to conservative. There's a reason why the same sex marriage initiative didn't pass in this state.
Exactly, and why they have failed to repeal capital punishment many times.
My brother lived in San Francisco for a few years, and he complained that while a lot of people (particularly wealthy ones) self-identified as liberals, and voted for Democrats, if you drilled down into their attitudes about issues like taxation, well-funded social services, development, attitudes towards big businesses, etc they were basically conservatives.
My brother lived in San Francisco for a few years, and he complained that while a lot of people (particularly wealthy ones) self-identified as liberals, and voted for Democrats, if you drilled down into their attitudes about issues like taxation, well-funded social services, development, attitudes towards big businesses, etc they were basically conservatives.
exactly..i remember talking to the founder of the company I worked with..when I mentioned tax should be raised..he answered just like a conservative would answer
even me, I am liberal to social issues and conservative to financial issues
Who's this "everyone" you're talking about? Most people I know tend to be socially liberal, fiscally conservative.
Well not literally everyone, but people sure act like everyone on the West Coast is a socialist and a liberal. Which would be awesome if it were true, but the West Coast loves money and classes are VERY segregated here.
The big cities on the West coast are the drains that all the very liberal people from the rest of the US flow into. Those big cities skew the electoral college.
That's a good point. I'd also posit that immigrants, who tend to be not conventionally "liberal" but nonetheless favor social services and wouldn't vote for a racist party also make California more Democrat-voting. If you look at things from an ethnic perspective, California is not exceptionally liberal by any means. The white people are about as conservative as whites in the South and Midwest, and the non-whites are similar in the sense they tend to be on average similar to the whites aside from on economic issues.
California leans slightly left in some ways because of a large minority population and a relatively small but significant counterculture. Oregon and Washington tend to vote for Democratic presidents, but only narrowly, and I find their by the issues voting tends to be pretty conservative.
It's not the leftism of New England or France, it's more like neoliberalism with the occasional progressive touch mixed with conservatism.
That's a good point. I'd also posit that immigrants, who tend to be not conventionally "liberal" but nonetheless favor social services and wouldn't vote for a racist party also make California more Democrat-voting. If you look at things from an ethnic perspective, California is not exceptionally liberal by any means. The white people are about as conservative as whites in the South and Midwest, and the non-whites are similar in the sense they tend to be on average similar to the whites aside from on economic issues.
California leans slightly left in some ways because of a large minority population and a relatively small but significant counterculture. Oregon and Washington tend to vote for Democratic presidents, but only narrowly, and I find their by the issues voting tends to be pretty conservative.
It's not the leftism of New England or France, it's more like neoliberalism with the occasional progressive touch mixed with conservatism.
Well, the perception that the west coast is liberal comes from the 80% of people who make up those big, liberal cities. People are going to form their perception of a region from the people that live there, so it doesn't really matter that they only take up probably 10% of the geographic area.
Orange County is very conservative, San Diego is pretty conservative for a big city, all of inland California really is conservative. Living here you might be exposed to more right wing ideals just by traveling around the state, but someone from Alabama won't take notice of this, because these places aren't in the limelight like the other major, liberal cities in the region.
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