Is California's liberalness over-estimated? (San Francisco, Sacramento: low income, homes, income)

[silverkris]

Originally Posted by Gentoo

There are conservatives areas in the Bay Area too. Pleasanton, Livermore, Dublin, Danvilles, San Ramon. the 680 corridor is known for being more conservative.

Yes, but it's relative. The abovementioned areas aren't considered "conservative" by the standards of the Deep South.

[ExeterMedia]

In some ways it is, but in many ways it's understated. California actually streaks right down the middle for the most part, and has voted many Republican governors into office. Also, many current "democratic" office holders would have been considered right wingers 30-40 years ago.

But compared to the rest of the nation, yes California is pretty blue on the scale.

[Futurist110]

@The OP: Possibly, considering that a very large number of Californians appear to dislike high(er) taxes, even right now.

[BlackShoe]

Originally Posted by mbell75

Im neither Democrat nor Republican but Id just like to point out that the time this state started turning blue and going Liberal/Democrat run is the same time it started to collapse. Go figure...

Nothing to figure, it is quite simple. The decline of California, and every other blue state, can be directly attributed to the spread and failure of Neo-Marxism, ie, "progressivism" that has infected the entire nation.

Originally Posted by majoun

Conservatives living in liberal areas, and/or fiscally conservative or just plain conservative Democrats often self-define as "moderates".

No such thing anymore, they are obsolete, the label is now an oxymoron. The ones that were left have either died or switched parties. Perhaps you might still find a few holdouts in the Deep South, but even there, most of them switched to the GOP.

[johansantana17]

I would say that California is definitely not one of the top 5 most liberal states. Oregon, Washington, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, New York, Connecticut, New Jersey, and Maryland are all clearly more liberal than CA. Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Colorado are all pretty similar to CA and it's arguable whether or not they're more liberal. So t answer your question, yes, CA's liberalness is very overstated. Most of SoCal is typical Sun Belt Arizona-style conservatism with the exception of urban LA. The Central valley has typical rural, agricultural conservatism. The Bay Area and rural NorCal are very liberal, of course. Taken all together, CA is slightly more liberal than average, but since people tend to only consider 'Hollywood' and San Francisco when thinking about CA, it is perceived as very liberal.

[tickyul]

Go away from the coast.....you will end up in the desert, mainly angry Teabillies.

[NewToCA]

Actually, my observation has been that California seems to have somewhat selective liberalism. The citizens seem to get really active when discussing stuff like gay marriage, legalizing drugs, environmental restrictions and benefits for illegal aliens. However, they had very little interest or objection when the state government cut supplemental social security benefits for handicapped folks (severely handicapped) by over 30% during the budget crisis, and never restored any of the cuts since the budget has recovered.

So I'd say that self interest seems to primarily drive the liberalism issues.

[aboveordinary]

The major coastal metro areas are what make California blue. San Diego has been thought of as the only conservative major city in the state, but over the last few years, it has actually become very purple and moderate.

[aboveordinary]

The 2012 presidential map

[dexter14]

Originally Posted by johansantana17

I would say that California is definitely not one of the top 5 most liberal states. Oregon, Washington, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, New York, Connecticut, New Jersey, and Maryland are all clearly more liberal than CA.

Not even close. CA takes the cake and rather easily. You think you would ever see any one of those states passing a law making it ok for transgender boys to use girls lockers and bathrooms? No chance in hell, and thats only one example.