Most conservative large city in Texas (Houston, Dallas: nicest, baptist, snake)

[padcrasher]

Originally Posted by Collegekid5934

Im using the academically acceptable definition of Libertarian used in the study of Political Science. What you are referring to is the third largest Political Party in the US, the Libertarian Party whose stance is for limited government.

Depends on the polls, Im referring to academic polls done by ppl experience in polling, statistics, and sample bias, not idiotic polls from CNN or NBC. However you should always have critical eye while looking at these polls.

I've never seen any polls indicating Texas is becoming more Libertarian. ( Social liberalism is growing but that's not exclusive to Libertarians) Size of government, taxation rates, do not even register on the list of priorities to voters. The last Presidential election Ralph Nader's Green Party obtained more votes than the Libertarian, and Constitution parties "combined". Bob Barr in Texas couldn't muster 1% of the vote.

[artsyguy]

I agree Texas will always be really uptight about its traditions and its Protestantism.

Originally Posted by padcrasher

I've never seen any polls indicating Texas is becoming more Libertarian. ( Social liberalism is growing but that's not exclusive to Libertarians) Size of government, taxation rates, do not even register on the list of priorities to voters. The last Presidential election Ralph Nader's Green Party obtained more votes than the Libertarian, and Constitution parties "combined". Bob Barr in Texas couldn't muster 1% of the vote.

[dtownboogie]

Originally Posted by Metro Matt

I find that hard to believe & even if it were true, counting Catholics by single county is meaningless as diocese is what is officially used in determining that.

The Houston/Galveston Diocese is the largest in Texas & 11th largest in the United States. They have their own archbishop which is the closest thing we have here to The Pope.

Dallas' diocese & surrounding counties are under San Antonio's.

Houston's diocese was founded 43 years prior in 1847, Dallas' diocese was founded in 1890.

"As of 2010 the Catholic school network of the archdiocese (Houston/Galveston) is the largest private school network in the State of Texas. As of that year the archdiocese had 59 schools, with about 18,000 students enrolled"

What the hell does this have to do with my original question So I guess by your standards Boston is one of the most conservative cities in the country. LOL at everyone voting for Dallas and Fort Worth, I should have made the poll public to see the culprits.

[hamiltonpl]

The Bay Area Center for Voting Research evaluated the most liberal and conservative cities in the United States. It listed Dallas as the most liberal in Texas, followed by Austin and Houston. They evaluated voting patterns, race and marriage rates. Overall, it is a much more educated analysis than most of this thread.

Read the study for yourself here:
http://alt.coxnewsweb.com/statesman/...081205libs.pdf

Six Dallas suburbs were in the top 56 "most conservative." So that may be the source for the "Dallas is conservative" myth.

Dallas -- The Lavender Heart of Texas?
The Lavender Heart of Texas - TIME

How Dallas Became a Gay-Friendly City - The Informed Reader - WSJ

Personally, I think that Houston and Dallas are pretty similar in their "liberalness" -- it just depends on the part of town you're spending time in. I find Austin superficially liberal.

Fort Worth is the most conservative large city I've visited in Texas.

[hamiltonpl]

Originally Posted by Metro Matt

I find that hard to believe & even if it were true, counting Catholics by single county is meaningless as diocese is what is officially used in determining that.

The Houston/Galveston Diocese is the largest in Texas & 11th largest in the United States. They have their own archbishop which is the closest thing we have here to The Pope.

Dallas' diocese & surrounding counties are under San Antonio's.

Houston's diocese was founded 43 years prior in 1847, Dallas' diocese was founded in 1890.

"As of 2010 the Catholic school network of the archdiocese (Houston/Galveston) is the largest private school network in the State of Texas. As of that year the archdiocese had 59 schools, with about 18,000 students enrolled"

That has absolutely nothing to do with which city is more conservative.

It does not follow that because of the way the Catholic Church divides their dioceses by archdiocese that a city that is not a headquarters of the the original archdiocese is more conservative.

First, Catholics as a demographic are not ideologically liberal. So their presence does not have a bearing on the "liberalness" or conservatism of the surrounding area.

For example, the Catholic Church is one of the most conservative voices on the issue of abortion, euthanasia, cloning, marriage, school choice, media regulations, economic freedom, initiative, private property, child tax credits, affirmative action, faith-based groups and social security.

Other more recent polls have shown that Catholics slightly favor Democrats in the last few elections, but in the eighties Catholics widely favored Republicans. Catholics are swing voters -- not a demographic that has consistently voted for one political party. At most having Catholics as a part of the population shows you may have a very slight pro-Democrat advantage in the last few election cycles.

Catholicism appears to be a wash for politics. In the last presidential election cycle, less than 10% more Catholics voted Democrat than Republican. This illustrates that Catholicism and liberalism are not closely linked. They certainly cannot be relied upon as a reason one area is more liberal or conservative. Scholars tend to paint Catholics as conservative, for example Laura Jenkins of the University of Oregon wrote:

"Catholics, with their unusual combination of ideology, have an overall political breakdown of 40 percent conservative, 36 percent moderate and 21 percent liberal. However, the religiously active Catholics lean much more to the right with 47 percent conservative, 35 percent moderate and only 14 percent liberal. However, of Catholics as a whole, those 21 percent that call themselves liberal reliably vote Democrat, yet only 23 percent of Catholics are reliable Republicans, leaving 39 percent as a swing vote and 18 percent typically not voting. Of active Catholics, 39 percent are swing voters as well, with a slightly higher number—30 percent—voting Republican on a regular basis." Wagner, Steven. “Social Renewal Catholics.” Crisis. June 1999. p.27.

Read more here: https://scholarsbank.uoregon.edu/xml...pdf?sequence=8

Next, the Archdiocese is yet another red flea on the red herring. The Galveston Diocese (note that Houston wasn't even a part of it) was set up in 1839. It was in the province of New Orleans at the time, and eventually was transferred to the province of San Antonio.

Dallas did not even exist in 1839 when the Archdiocese was created. On the other hand, Galveston and San Antonio were major cities at the time. It makes perfect since that they would be the two Archdioceses of Texas at the time. They were the major cities, Dallas did not even exist. Even if what you said about Catholics solidly voting Democrat was true -- and it is not -- how the Catholic church decided to set up an Archdiocese really has nothing to do with the conservatism or liberalness of a city.

[artsyguy]

I feel like in Austin the liberalism comes and goes with the festivals. But after the three or four liberal festivals are gone then it's just not apparent within the culture; especially on a weekly basis. I just never felt welcomed or accepted there. I was always "the outsider" despite how outgoing and fun my personality is. And it's strange because there are so many cliques: people in cliques are constantly giving each other eye glances to signal "he isn't welcomed here". Something you'd see in a hillbilly village.

In Dallas you can pretty much feel the liberalism and freedom everywhere you go. I can have fun everywhere I go. I don't get ignored or dirty looks. Nobody ever badgers you about petty BS and then smirks at you. Unfortunately, I believe in recent times some of the mega-churches in Dallas are getting fed up with the liberalism though. So watch out Dallas!

Originally Posted by hamiltonpl

The Bay Area Center for Voting Research evaluated the most liberal and conservative cities in the United States. It listed Dallas as the most liberal in Texas, followed by Austin and Houston. They evaluated voting patterns, race and marriage rates. Overall, it is a much more educated analysis than most of this thread.

Read the study for yourself here:
http://alt.coxnewsweb.com/statesman/...081205libs.pdf

Six Dallas suburbs were in the top 56 "most conservative." So that may be the source for the "Dallas is conservative" myth.

Dallas -- The Lavender Heart of Texas?
The Lavender Heart of Texas - TIME

How Dallas Became a Gay-Friendly City - The Informed Reader - WSJ

Personally, I think that Houston and Dallas are pretty similar in their "liberalness" -- it just depends on the part of town you're spending time in. I find Austin superficially liberal.

Fort Worth is the most conservative large city I've visited in Texas.

[Cowboys fan in Houston]

Originally Posted by artsyguy

In Dallas you can pretty much feel the liberalism and freedom everywhere you go. I can have fun everywhere I go. I don't get ignored or dirty looks. Nobody ever badgers you about petty BS and then smirks at you. Unfortunately, I believe in recent times some of the mega-churches in Dallas are getting fed up with the liberalism though. So watch out Dallas!

Ironic, considering on a statistical level, Dallas is more liberal than its ever been. The churches dont have that much power. Especially considering that Dallas is becoming much more hispanic and catholic very fast. Catholics tend to keep to themselves more.

[JJG]

Originally Posted by dtownboogie

What the hell does this have to do with my original question So I guess by your standards Boston is one of the most conservative cities in the country. LOL at everyone voting for Dallas and Fort Worth, I should have made the poll public to see the culprits.

.... Dallas, no. Not Really.

But OF COURSE Fort Worth is the most Conservative on this list. It doesn't mean that the entire city is (trust me), you and I both know that. But when it just comes to perception and just people in and around the cities that you talk to, Fort Worth would be it.... much as I hate to say it.

[artsyguy]

But Fort Worth isn't too backwater conservative either. They have some great museums and art festivals and concert halls.

Originally Posted by JJG

.... Dallas, no. Not Really.

But OF COURSE Fort Worth is the most Conservative on this list. It doesn't mean that the entire city is (trust me), you and I both know that. But when it just comes to perception and just people in and around the cities that you talk to, Fort Worth would be it.... much as I hate to say it.

[artsyguy]

The mega-churches are a business and they are suffering in this recession too. So they use the old "guilt tripping" methods to get more customers.

Originally Posted by justme02

Ironic, considering on a statistical level, Dallas is more liberal than its ever been. The churches dont have that much power. Especially considering that Dallas is becoming much more hispanic and catholic very fast. Catholics tend to keep to themselves more.