Factors in why San Jose/Silicon Valley is more liberal than it used to be? (San Francisco: crime rate, income)

[mysticaltyger]

Originally Posted by AllenSJC

- The Republican Party shifting to the Right (especially on social and cultural issues) and the Democratic Party's outreach and connections with to the high-tech industry/community.

The Republican Party hasn't shifted to the right on these issues. The country, led by the mainstream media and Hollywood, has shifted to the left. i.e. Gay marriage, whether you agree with it or not, was not even on the radar when I was growing up. Lots of other social issues are the same.

[SportyandMisty]

Originally Posted by AllenSJC

It used to be a fairly Republican-voting area; as recently as the 1980s, it voted for Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush by comfortable margins.

Originally Posted by SportyandMisty

That same year it also voted to re-elect the disgraced Alan Cranston to be its US senator.

Originally Posted by silverkris

If you're referring to the Keating scandal, John McCain was also involved in that and it didn't hurt his political fortunes either. Your point?

My point, as you seemed to have missed it, was California simultaneously voted for Reagan/Bush and Cranston. This doesn't have anything to do with McCain or his political fortunes. It has to do with simultaneously voting for a Republican candidate for president and a Democrat candidate for the Senate.

That is a bit schizophrenic.

[silverkris]

Originally Posted by phantompilot

Easy to answer this. The main import in the Bay Area over this time period , in all of California, to be precise, has consisted of immigrants mostly from socialist/commie countries, where the Democrat agenda of welfare statism and wealth distribution is considered normal instead of an infringement on natural and civil liberty. Or immigrants who could be bribed with the lure of "Free stuff".

That is a theory that has no basis in reality.

In fact, folks who flee communist countries, or have been inculcated to fear communism, often are very anti-Communist in political orientation and will vote for politicians who cater to that dynamic.

Look at how Cuban Americans in Florida vote - overwhelmingly Republican (until recently) because they've felt betrayed by JFK over the Bay of Pigs.

The Vietnamese American community here in California have often trended Republican because they are animated by appeals to anti-Communism jingoism. I also know a lot of Taiwanese Americans, Korean Americans, and people from the old Soviet Union who think like that, too.

Of course, succeeding generations, as they become more assimilated and no longer share the viewpoint of emigre politics, will tend to vote on more on issues that are domestically oriented and have little to do with politics in the old country. So Cuban Americans have trended more Democratic, especially with the younger generations, and a majority supports Obama's rapproachment with Cuba. We are also seeing this with the Vietnamese community as well. So Ly Tong and his antics will pass into history.

[silverkris]

Originally Posted by SportyandMisty

My point, as you seemed to have missed it, was California simultaneously voted for Reagan/Bush and Cranston. This doesn't have anything to do with McCain or his political fortunes. It has to do with simultaneously voting for a Republican candidate for president and a Democrat candidate for the Senate.

That is a bit schizophrenic.

So? That happens in a lot of states - if the incumbent has retained sufficient support over the years, he/she can still get reelected regardless of national trends.

[dogandcat]

Originally Posted by silverkris

That is a theory that has no basis in reality.

In fact, folks who flee communist countries, or have been inculcated to fear communism, often are very anti-Communist in political orientation and will vote for politicians who cater to that dynamic.

That is very true. Me and all my family are from communist country, and we will never support Democrats at least until they change they main policy points. I do not support communist economic model of pseudo-equality (that means that all people are poor...equally poor) and communist political model when a person afraid to discuss bad social news even with close friends. I remember that feeling from the past, when you afraid but can change nothing, and I do not want to feel it again even in small degree, especially now when having kids.

[mysticaltyger]

Originally Posted by dogandcat

That is very true. Me and all my family are from communist country, and we will never support Democrats at least until they change they main policy points. I do not support communist economic model of pseudo-equality (that means that all people are poor...equally poor) and communist political model when a person afraid to discuss bad social news even with close friends. I remember that feeling from the past, when you afraid but can change nothing, and I do not want to feel it again even in small degree, especially now when having kids.

Unfortunately, the U.S. is headed in the direction you fear.

[ambient]

Originally Posted by mysticaltyger

This is pretty much my take. People move here to get away from oppression and then vote in the same oppression they were trying to escape. The same phenomenon occurs when Californians get priced out of CA and then move to low cost areas. Then they push the same agenda in their new place that created the high cost of living in their home state.

Another example would be people complaining about traffic and sprawl who move to a smaller city only to live the same low housing density, car-centric lifestyle in the new place that created all the traffic and sprawl in the place they left.

Of course, now the difference between the 2 parties in terms of oppressiveness is getting slimmer all the time.

So the high cost of living in the bay area is because of all the immigrants demanding handouts? Not because, you know, we are the world's epicenter of tech innovation and venture funding? Kind of ridiculous. The bay area has one of the largest concentrations of wealthy, educated people in the world. These are the ones who are voting liberal.

[mysticaltyger]

Originally Posted by ambient

So the high cost of living in the bay area is because of all the immigrants demanding handouts?

Honestly, I don't even know how you read that into my post.

Illegal immigration factors in, especially in terms of the taxes they pay are much lower than the amount of government services consumed. But the biggest factor by far is NIMBY-ism, as I (and others) have stated numerous times on numerous threads.

Why Middle-Class Americans Can't Afford to Live in Liberal Cities - The Atlantic

http://www.newgeography.com/content/...-class-warfare

NIMBY-ism and it's close cousin enviro-nazism result in chronic housing shortages that lead to sky high home prices and rents.

[Perma Bear]

Originally Posted by silverkris

That is a theory that has no basis in reality.

In fact, folks who flee communist countries, or have been inculcated to fear communism, often are very anti-Communist in political orientation and will vote for politicians who cater to that dynamic.

Look at how Cuban Americans in Florida vote - overwhelmingly Republican (until recently) because they've felt betrayed by JFK over the Bay of Pigs.

The Vietnamese American community here in California have often trended Republican because they are animated by appeals to anti-Communism jingoism. I also know a lot of Taiwanese Americans, Korean Americans, and people from the old Soviet Union who think like that, too.

Of course, succeeding generations, as they become more assimilated and no longer share the viewpoint of emigre politics, will tend to vote on more on issues that are domestically oriented and have little to do with politics in the old country. So Cuban Americans have trended more Democratic, especially with the younger generations, and a majority supports Obama's rapproachment with Cuba. We are also seeing this with the Vietnamese community as well. So Ly Tong and his antics will pass into history.

I can never forgive people like Ho Chi Mihn or Fidel Castro for being womanizing murdering dictators. They subjugated their people and lived like wealthy kings.

[silverkris]

Originally Posted by Perma Bear

I can never forgive people like Ho Chi Mihn or Fidel Castro for being womanizing murdering dictators. They subjugated their people and lived like wealthy kings.

You can say the same about Batista, Franco, and many other heads of state like Chiang Kai-Shek. The difference is that the US supported many of them when convenient.