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This may be drifting off topic, but you can't seriously discuss something unless you define the terms clearly.
As for your comment on voting, it's more a matter of weighing the policies of the parties on the scales and trying to decide which issues are more crucial to me and who's the least of all evils, rather than trying to decide whether I'm a liberal or a conservative and voting for the more liberal / conservative party or candidate. Eventually ideology is nothing but a hall of mirrors, and one politicians frequently use as a cynical weapon to blackmail voters.
Here in Maryland (which I don't consider the Northeast...whether its the South is debatable)....we are usually Democrat but that is because of the New York transplants, immigrants (many of whom are illegal and their kids), African Americans and a collection of the urban liberal elite near DC in a few rich enclaves.
The vast majority of whites, Christians, blue collar folks, middle class folks, small town folks and assimilated minorities are moderate to conservative. If you go to Maryland's Eastern Shore, you see one McCain-Palin sign after another. People there openly talk about church and not just church picnics but about their pastors' sermons on Monday, I've been there. Three liberal areas in Maryland turn our state blue...Baltimore City has a lot of very poor people who are lazy and live off government assistance in the inner city as well as some hip, liberal elite types buying condos downtown. Prince George's County is ghetto and also has massive numbers of illegal immigrants and foreigners. Montgomery County has large numbers of immigrants and some of the liberal elite too.
The mainstream reality in Maryland is moderate conservative, not as religious or conservative as the heartland, the Deep South or the intermountain West but most people here down to Earth at least the natives. Now Pennsylvania is less conservative, I wouldn't say its very very liberal but notice how it has a lower percentage of African Americans, immigrants, etc and yet it is still consistently a blue state, even this year despite all of McCain adn Palin's campaigning.
One interesting thing I've noticed comparing rural Maryland with rural Pennsylvania (I been to the areas around Camelback, Shawnee, East Stroudburg in the eastern part of PA) . Maryland's rural areas have a noticeably higher number of people who have kids by age 20 or 21 and a lot of it is because of religion and views against abortion so when a girl gets pregnant at 17 or 18 she may give up or delay going to college/community college to raise the child. I've also personally known people in some blue collar Baltimore area suburbs this has happened with. Around Baltimore support for the GOP is higher in the blue collar areas than the more wealthy areas...maybe its because Democrat wealth redistribution policies hurt the wealthier less since they have more money. Compare that to a steelworker for example who makes less so its a bigger deal when the Dems raise his taxes to fund more welfare programs, Section 8 housing for lazy ghetto ppl or illegals, etc.
However, I would like to draw attention to the huge sections of rural areas that vote democrat in New England and the upper midwest.
I know this doesn't come close to showing the real story, but I love the maps by county as opposed to by state:
Voting Democrat does not equal a region being liberal. Alot of inner city folk like the welfare system up there and thus vote Dem even though they are conservative on a number of social issues. Same with unions up north. Trust me, I spent the first 18 yrs of my life living in the Northeast and it is NOT that liberal
I find it interesting that so many from the Northeast claim to be Catholic, but apparently are very socially liberal.
WOAH there! Catholicism is not about liberal or conservative. People don't usually believe in 100% of a religion.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ainulinale
Connecticut is solid blue in that map, yet the state voted nearly 40% in favor of McCain.
It only takes 50.1% to win a county.
Going back to the original idea of this thread. No, The East Coast is just Liberal in a different way than the West Coast. The West Coast, especially in the PNW is more hippyish.
I find it interesting that so many from the Northeast claim to be Catholic, but apparently are very socially liberal.
Catholicism is socially moderate.
The Catholic church takes...
a liberal stance on immigration,
a conservative stance on gay marriage,
a liberal stance on capital punishment,
a conservative stance on abortion,
a liberal stance on the War in Iraq.
One of the definitions of a conservative is racism?
Says who?
Racism knows no political bounds and comes in all shapes and sizes.
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