Conservative Oregon cities? (Portland, Bend: middle-class, sales, credit)

I guess if you look at a map, Oregon is much more red than blue. That's largely irrelevant though, since the places where people actually live (I5 from Portland to a bit past Eugene) are purple to deep blue.

[Larry Caldwell]

Originally Posted by JasonF

I guess if you look at a map, Oregon is much more red than blue. That's largely irrelevant though, since the places where people actually live (I5 from Portland to a bit past Eugene) are purple to deep blue.

That's a simplistic way of looking at it. Many Oregonians vote democratic because the Democrats are conservative and the Republicans are lunatics.

[karlsch]

This Gallup poll shows the USA as a whole to be politically center-right. This conforms to the results of many other polls. It also breaks it down by states & DC.

State of the States

Among the states & DC, Oregon is the 7th most liberal.

How Oregonians identify themselves:

Liberal - 26.3%
Moderate - 35.3%
Conservative - 34.5%

Democratic/Lean - 47.5%
Republican/Lean - 35.8

My interpretation is that while the country as a whole is center-right, Oregon as a whole is probably centrist. Also, being a Democrat doesn’t always mean that you are a hard liberal, and being a Republican doesn’t always mean that you are a hard conservative. In my experience, most Oregonians, whether they are Independent, Democratic, or Republican, are politically at the center, or at the left or right of the center - they aren’t at the extremes. However, the ones at the extremes make all the noise.

[Mr.SmithW]

It's funny, Oregon is a liberal state, because a 30 mi sq radius of the state is liberal. If anyone wants to know if living in Oregon is a liberal/conservative experience ( the original question), then you will be misleading them saying Oregon is a liberal state. Rather, to be properly informative, you will say Portland is a liberal city, but ORegon is a backwoods, libertarian, pioneer-descended conservative state. Remember, loggers and ranchers, not California yuppies built this state from the dust and now it is evolving due to the new types of people who have settled here. However, most of these liberal types settled in small parts of the state. It is like saying Louisiana is a liberal state, because it hosts the Mardi Gras.. Totally false..

That's a simplistic way of looking at it.

How is it simplistic? It is a fact that the population centers of the state tilt are either pretty moderate (in the case of Salem) or very progressive (in the case of Portland and Eugene). And it's also a fact that Oregon is one of the (self-identified) most liberal states in the country. To pretend otherwise is simply absurd.

It is like saying Louisiana is a liberal state, because it hosts the Mardi Gras.. Totally false..

No, it's really not like that at all. It would be like saying Louisiana is a conservative state because it votes for conservative politicians and enacts conservative policies.

I will never understand the desire of many of those on the conservative side of the aisle to paint the liberal side as less significant because it happens to be concentrated in urban areas, regardless of the actual populations or how people vote or causes people support.

[metaljaybird]

Reading some of these replies, you would think that conservatives are backwards, uneducated people. The types of conservatives I know are typically wealthier, more cultured, and more educated than the liberals that I know. That said, I'm a libertarian, so my type of conservatism is more of the Ron Paul type.

Of course, I like to remind people that the KKK was started by a bunch of Democrats.

Anyway, some of the pretentious attitudes of the liberals on this thread have me scratching my head. I thought they were all slow to judge others by the way they live.

[Dual Citizen CA-OR]

Originally Posted by metaljaybird

Reading some of these replies, you would think that conservatives are backwards, uneducated people. The types of conservatives I know are typically wealthier, more cultured, and more educated than the liberals that I know. That said, I'm a libertarian, so my type of conservatism is more of the Ron Paul type.

Of course, I like to remind people that the KKK was started by a bunch of Democrats.

Anyway, some of the pretentious attitudes of the liberals on this thread have me scratching my head. I thought they were all slow to judge others by the way they live.

Well I'd like to remind everyone the people that the KKK was started by were a bunch of conservatives. They left the Democratic party and joined the Republicans after America had the nerve to pass civil rights legislation.

And of course liberals have no monopoly on pretentiousness.

[BendBeav]

Originally Posted by Mr.SmithW

It's funny, Oregon is a liberal state, because a 30 mi sq radius of the state is liberal. If anyone wants to know if living in Oregon is a liberal/conservative experience ( the original question), then you will be misleading them saying Oregon is a liberal state. Rather, to be properly informative, you will say Portland is a liberal city, but ORegon is a backwoods, libertarian, pioneer-descended conservative state. Remember, loggers and ranchers, not California yuppies built this state from the dust and now it is evolving due to the new types of people who have settled here. However, most of these liberal types settled in small parts of the state. It is like saying Louisiana is a liberal state, because it hosts the Mardi Gras.. Totally false..

So do you think votes should be based on land area, and not human beings? Cows vs. Cars?

[metaljaybird]

Originally Posted by Dual Citizen CA-OR

Well I'd like to remind everyone the people that the KKK was started by were a bunch of conservatives. They left the Democratic party and joined the Republicans after America had the nerve to pass civil rights legislation.

And of course liberals have no monopoly on pretentiousness.

I like to then remind people that the Neocons of today are the chicken hawks who left the Democratic party in the 60's and 70's.

[metaljaybird]

Originally Posted by BendBeav

So do you think votes should be based on land area, and not human beings? Cows vs. Cars?

Used to be, you had to be a large property owner to vote. There is something to say about a nation that allows massive amounts of dependents vote. Not saying I'm against it, but of course, certain liberal enclaves are going to have higher taxes against the middle class and wealthy if the majority of their constituents fall under the poverty line.