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ok well liberal Democrat presidents and nominees have opposed gay marriage in the past too. Both the CLintons, Obama, etc. That issue never has been conservative vs liberal , more religious traditionilists vs younger generation / don't care about the issue
it would be hard for Republican party to win if they just ignore what Christians believe given that is a lot their base.
Well, even the Raleigh suburbs are probably more so purple, with a tint of red further out. Wake County in general is probably more purple than blue. The cores of Durham and Chapel Hill/Carrboro are blue without question, but the suburbs in Durham and Orange Counties are also (probably) more so purple. The only areas of NC that are solidly liberal are the cores of Durham, Chapel Hill/Carrboro, and Asheville. Charlotte and Raleigh, very purple. I feel like there is an exaggerated assumption that the whole state of North Carolina is completely saturated with hardcore liberal Yankees, which isn't the case at all. Look at the success of Jesse Helms, and RTP had already brought in many transplants during his time.
Well, even the Raleigh suburbs are probably more so purple, with a tint of red further out. Wake County in general is probably more purple than blue. The cores of Durham and Chapel Hill/Carrboro are blue without question, but the suburbs in Durham and Orange Counties are also (probably) more so purple. The only areas of NC that are solidly liberal are the cores of Durham, Chapel Hill/Carrboro, and Asheville. Charlotte and Raleigh, very purple. I feel like there is an exaggerated assumption that the whole state of North Carolina is completely saturated with hardcore liberal Yankees, which isn't the case at all. Look at the success of Jesse Helms, and RTP had already brought in many transplants during his time.
NC has traditionally been a fairly "purple" state. I honestly think the influx of northern transplants has shifted the state to the right. They are largely people who are obsessed with low taxes and associate that with Republicans so they vote in republicans on the local-level.
Most liberal cities in order are probably Austin > Atlanta/NOLA/ Miami > Raleigh > then everything else. I find Atlanta to have a liberal city core, not on the level of SF or Seattle, but probably a tier lower.
ok well liberal Democrat presidents and nominees have opposed gay marriage in the past too. Both the CLintons, Obama, etc. That issue never has been conservative vs liberal , more religious traditionilists vs younger generation / don't care about the issue
This is the classic false equivalency being spewed from the right these days as it becomes more and more of a losing issue to oppose gay marriage rights.
There is a HUGE difference between liberals and conservatives (or Dems and Repubs) on this issue politically in the recent decades. While it's true that most Dems "didn't support" marriage equality in the past, that is a completely different sort of "non-support" than what the Republicans have and continue to push at its most conservative and resistant. Democrats opposed marriage while often supporting civil unions. Democrats didn't push marriage amendments to state ballots or introduce it as a national as a wedge issue for political gain, the Republicans did. In effect, Dems were chicken to get in front of the public on the issue politically and the Republicans ran with it as fast as they could to grab as much power as possible. In fact, most of the marriage amendments went so far as to eliminate even a minuscule amount of legal partnership recognition. There are huge differences lest one forgets recent history and feeds of the talking points du jour from FoxNews.
Bringing this back to liberal cities in the South, one only has to look at the voting patterns during each state marriage amendment vote at the city and county level. Of course, even this method has its flaws since states voted on these amendments over an 8 year period when public opinion was rapidly changing.
This is the classic false equivalency being spewed from the right these days as it becomes more and more of a losing issue to oppose gay marriage rights.
There is a HUGE difference between liberals and conservatives (or Dems and Repubs) on this issue politically in the recent decades. While it's true that most Dems "didn't support" marriage equality in the past, that is a completely different sort of "non-support" than what the Republicans have and continue to push at its most conservative and resistant. Democrats opposed marriage while often supporting civil unions. Democrats didn't push marriage amendments to state ballots or introduce it as a national as a wedge issue for political gain, the Republicans did. In effect, Dems were chicken to get in front of the public on the issue politically and the Republicans ran with it as fast as they could to grab as much power as possible. In fact, most of the marriage amendments went so far as to eliminate even a minuscule amount of legal partnership recognition. There are huge differences lest one forgets recent history and feeds of the talking points du jour from FoxNews.
Bringing this back to liberal cities in the South, one only has to look at the voting patterns during each state marriage amendment vote at the city and county level. Of course, even this method has its flaws since states voted on these amendments over an 8 year period when public opinion was rapidly changing.
Republican politicians seem set on pandering to the religious right - or the loudest of their constituents (as most politicians do). But I have noticed more and more moderate Republicans supporting gay rights and human rights in general than just a few years ago. Even some of the recent Republican presidential hopefuls have softened their stance on same-sex marriage a bit.
Location: New Albany, Indiana (Greater Louisville)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ant131531
Most liberal cities in order are probably Austin > Atlanta/NOLA/ Miami > Raleigh > then everything else. I find Atlanta to have a liberal city core, not on the level of SF or Seattle, but probably a tier lower.
The problem with that graph is you have to remember some cities have city limits that include more Republican leaning suburbs while other cities have only urban core areas in their city limits. That chart has Cinicinnati being more Liberal than Louisville for that reason, even though Cincinnati is the Republican stronghold of the North and Louisville at a county level hasn't voted Democrat in a presidential election in decades. Cincinnati's county only went Blue once in the past half century and the percent of Whites there that vote Republican is as high as Alabama.
Practically all of the liberal Southern cities are Republican/more conservative in the 'burbs.
This isnt just true for Southern cities. This is true of ALL cities, even those in the liberal Northeast.
For what it's worth, ALL cities and metros are purple. Nowhere has all liberals or all conservatives. The variation of purple will be different from place to place.
There are also some differences between a city's general electorate and progressive climate and its political representation at the local, county, state and US government representation. In many circumstances, some of this representation is shaped by forces outside of local control. In the case of US house and local statewide representation, gerrymandering plays a huge role and, as everyone knows, US Senate representation is a statewide election.
This all said, I think that Raleigh is an interesting case to study. It's the state's second largest city in its second most populated (will probably be #1 within the next decade) county in and its county demographics mirror that of the state most closely compared to NC's other urban counties. Raleigh has also been identified as the most political city in the US and the engagement of its citizens is very palatable and evident.
Until the early 2000s, Raleigh and Wake County was the consummate balanced place politically in an often politically balanced state. Based on its demographics, vis-a-vis the state, it also typically mirrored the direction of the state itself. Since then, both the county and the city have been moving consistently to the left of the state. In both 2008 and 2012, Obama won the county by double digits. In the 2012 primary election where 61% of NC voters voted in favor of the now defunct Marriage Amendment, Wake voted 57% against it. In 2014, during the second Republican national wave under the Obama administration, Raleigh and Wake elections went completely blue locally with Democratic control of the county commission and Raleigh's city council and total control of the county school system. Of the 24 elected positions between the city and county, 21 are now held by Democrats. One independent, the mayor of Raleigh, caucuses with the Democrats.
Raleigh and Wake are often identified as the less progressive side of the Triangle but it's a charge made without context. It's important to understand that while Durham County (with its much larger percentage of African American voters) and Orange County/Chapel Hill (with its population anchor springing from a university town) form a metro with a built-in highly Democratic voting base, Raleigh and Wake are a much larger and more complex entities with more than double the population of Durham and Orange Counties combined and a set of demographics that wouldn't necessarily build a permanent base of progressive voters. Nonetheless, Raleigh and Wake continue to march toward more progressive politics.
In the end, the Triangle as a whole: Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill form one of the most politically progressive metros in the south and are arguably the reason why NC is such a balanced state in the first place. Without the Triangle, the state would certainly be more "red". As the Triangle continues to grow rapidly, expect that its influence in statewide and national elections will push the state further toward the "blue".
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