Conservative Cincinnati?

[HSMom2009]

In my experience in the 3 years I have been here. If your white, christian and republican ,this is the perfect place for you. There are Liberals or moderates, but the ones I have met are usually tranplants and live closer to the city. I live out in West Chester, Butler county. Very republican.

[Cincy-Rise]

Originally Posted by HSMom2009

In my experience in the 3 years I have been here. If your white, christian and republican ,this is the perfect place for you. There are Liberals or moderates, but the ones I have met are usually tranplants and live closer to the city. I live out in West Chester, Butler county. Very republican.

That's funny because ....

Cincinnati is half black.
Cincinnati is highly democrat.
Hamilton County leans more to the democrat side.

[crystalblue]

any more opinions?

[Chemistry_Guy]

Fundamentally, a conservative is someone who looks to the past for solutions to today's issues, and a liberal is someone who believes that future progress should not be restricted by structures from the past. That being said, politics have blurred the lines to some extent as the different camps have separated based on issues that are practical more than philosophical.

Different parts of the country have different 'flavors' of liberal and conservative, and urban/suburban/rural definitions vary as well. For example, in Alaska you will find many social conservatives that are radical environmentalists, and in NYC there are a lot of fiscal conservatives that are on the far left when it comes to many social issues. Political affiliation also doesn't necessarily reflect fundamental philosophy, just what is expedient at the time for the voter e.g. union workers or trial lawyers voting democrat, business owners republican, etc.

I have noticed that 'fundamentalist' liberals or conservatives tend to identify so strongly with the talking points of their chosen political orientation that they feel like everyone who is not exactly like them on every issue is against them. While most commonly associated with conservatives, I see plenty of fundies on the far left as well. Social and fiscal moderates are rejected by both ends of the political spectrum. In Cincinnati, cultural characteristics (like being catholic, black, jewish, etc.) cause a lot of the population to fit somewhere in the middle 90% of the political spectrum. To the Rush Limbaugh camp, this means 95% of the population are liberals, and to the Dennis Kucinich camp, 95% are conservatives. If you feel like one of these positions describes your observations, you're probably in one of the far end groups.

Overall, Cincinnati is like most middle-american cities, with urban populations leaning to the left and suburban populations leaning to the right. The lines are drawn a little differently than in some newer cities, so a a result the city tends to go democrat and the county that the city is in tends to split or go republican. Still, the majority is moderate enough that a popular idea or candidate on either side can swing a majority very easily.

[ram2]

Originally Posted by HSMom2009

In my experience in the 3 years I have been here. If your white, christian and republican ,this is the perfect place for you. There are Liberals or moderates, but the ones I have met are usually tranplants and live closer to the city. I live out in West Chester, Butler county. Very republican.

That is interesting. Ken Blackwell, the former Cincinnati politician (and now a state politician) is black and conservative.

[Doyle2]

Originally Posted by Cincy-Rise

That's funny because ....

Cincinnati is half black.
Cincinnati is highly democrat.
Hamilton County leans more to the democrat side.

But that's only talking about within the city limits. Places like West Chester are outside of the city limits.

[abr7rmj]

Originally Posted by Cincy-Rise

What are some examples?

The lack of movement on the streetcar or any other mass rail transportation, despite a glaring need and repeated efforts by some to get the ball rolling, is a big example.

This city is absolutely allergic to any change that it does not understand. And since so many people here rarely get out to see the world outside of an annual trip to Gatlinburg or Panama City, they can't really grasp what Cincinnati desperately needs in order to let it take a step up to the next level.

Cincinnati has definite world-class* potential; you can literally see it all around you at times. But it's eternally stuck on region-class, and that's both aggravating and highly disappointing.

*By world-class, I mean world-class. Not Atlanta's level or Dallas or Minneapolis or even Denver. Cincinnati has the potential to be so much more than any of those great cities. It's ridiculously frustrating that it just never happens.

[Nomomo11]

Originally Posted by HSMom2009

In my experience in the 3 years I have been here. If your white, christian and republican ,this is the perfect place for you. There are Liberals or moderates, but the ones I have met are usually tranplants and live closer to the city. I live out in West Chester, Butler county. Very republican.

Did you expect something different? It is West Chester after all, not exactly a hub of counter-culture.