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The fact that we currently have a republican governor and state legislature and "we" voted for Trump should suggest there is room here for a variety of political views.
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Originally Posted by Coldjensens
Avoid Ann Arbor and you will be fine. ....(Ann Arbor is not at all open minded and accepting).
A bit of an exaggeration. Other than downtown and around campus people are very tolerant of conservative folks in many areas of town. My wife is conservative as are a few other friends of mine and they are very comfortable living here. But they wouldn't wear a "Make America Great" hat on the diag. Myself I am middle of the road politically (most of my liberal friends think I lean right, most of my conservative friends think I lean left) and I am comfortable here.
I participate in a Nextdoor.com forum that includes several neighborhoods in town. I would be lying to say the town isn't liberal overall but there are several more conservative leaning folks that participate in the forum very comfortably.
If not for the issue of LABOR and the historical ties between unions and the democratic party......Michigan would nearly always go red. It's really a red state if not for the one issue of labor. Thus, you would probably be fine in Michigan on most issues.
If not for the issue of LABOR and the historical ties between unions and the democratic party......Michigan would nearly always go red. It's really a red state if not for the one issue of labor. Thus, you would probably be fine in Michigan on most issues.
I have lived in Michigan for twenty years now and I tend to agree with this assessment. I would also add that the minorities living in the large cities contribute to Michigan going Blue in most Presidential elections, since for whatever reason they don't get out and vote nearly as much during state elections and you can see that we have a solid Red legislature and have a two term Republican governor who won both elections by a landslide.
I live in Monroe County, which is a mostly rural county wedged in between liberal Detroit and almost as liberal Toledo, Ohio. There are a fair share of conservatives here, but because of our location and strong ties to the automotive industry, there are also a lot of Democrats. Notice I didn't say liberals, because the odd thing is that here many of the people who vote Democrat are actually quite conservative both politically and socially, and far, far right of a typical Democrat in Ann Arbor, for example. Here it is not abnormal to see someone who is a lifelong Democrat and voted for Hillary simultaneously being a devout Catholic and staunchly pro-life, and not seeing the disparity in that at all. So many people I know who vote Democrat do so because their father and their grandfather were in the UAW or liked JFK, or whatever, and really don't identify with a lot of the modern Democratic Party's platform but vote that way anyway because they were taught that it was the only right thing to do. I'm sure this could be said of many Republicans too, but I see a lot of this in Michigan Democrats.
When Trump won Michigan, I think several factors contributed to it: the necessary weakening of the stronghold that labor unions have historically had on this state and their members, the hard left turn by the Democrat Party in recent years when Michigan is basically a pretty socially conservative state overall, and basic dislike for and distrust of Hillary. Not saying that Donald Trump was a great alternative, but he did offer something new and different and was not a known corrupt career politician.
Anyway, conservatives are welcome here, and in many areas you will be in the majority for sure. Michigan has many counties that are plenty conservative. Even in the larger cities, particularly Detroit, the city itself may be Blue, but many of the suburbs are Red, and even in Blue areas I have never seen anyone get really mean about politics, although you may meet with some disdain in central Ann Arbor or Detroit. Live and let live. You should be fine here as long as you don't go around trying to coerce people into heated political debates.
If not for the issue of LABOR and the historical ties between unions and the democratic party......Michigan would nearly always go red. It's really a red state if not for the one issue of labor. Thus, you would probably be fine in Michigan on most issues.
Honestly I don't know about that. Detroit, Oakland co, Ann Arbor, Flint, Lansing, Muskegon and Kalamazoo always go blue I believe. If democrats have a high voter turnout then Grand Rapids, Macomb co, as well as some other counties go blue as well. That's the majority of Michigan's population right there. This was a low voter turnout for democrats and a big turnout for republicans and it was still pretty close in Michigan.
I have lived in Michigan for twenty years now and I tend to agree with this assessment. I would also add that the minorities living in the large cities contribute to Michigan going Blue in most Presidential elections, since for whatever reason they don't get out and vote nearly as much during state elections and you can see that we have a solid Red legislature and have a two term Republican governor who won both elections by a landslide.
I live in Monroe County, which is a mostly rural county wedged in between liberal Detroit and almost as liberal Toledo, Ohio. There are a fair share of conservatives here, but because of our location and strong ties to the automotive industry, there are also a lot of Democrats. Notice I didn't say liberals, because the odd thing is that here many of the people who vote Democrat are actually quite conservative both politically and socially, and far, far right of a typical Democrat in Ann Arbor, for example. Here it is not abnormal to see someone who is a lifelong Democrat and voted for Hillary simultaneously being a devout Catholic and staunchly pro-life, and not seeing the disparity in that at all. So many people I know who vote Democrat do so because their father and their grandfather were in the UAW or liked JFK, or whatever, and really don't identify with a lot of the modern Democratic Party's platform but vote that way anyway because they were taught that it was the only right thing to do. I'm sure this could be said of many Republicans too, but I see a lot of this in Michigan Democrats.
When Trump won Michigan, I think several factors contributed to it: the necessary weakening of the stronghold that labor unions have historically had on this state and their members, the hard left turn by the Democrat Party in recent years when Michigan is basically a pretty socially conservative state overall, and basic dislike for and distrust of Hillary. Not saying that Donald Trump was a great alternative, but he did offer something new and different and was not a known corrupt career politician.
Anyway, conservatives are welcome here, and in many areas you will be in the majority for sure. Michigan has many counties that are plenty conservative. Even in the larger cities, particularly Detroit, the city itself may be Blue, but many of the suburbs are Red, and even in Blue areas I have never seen anyone get really mean about politics, although you may meet with some disdain in central Ann Arbor or Detroit. Live and let live. You should be fine here as long as you don't go around trying to coerce people into heated political debates.
Yep! Also, do not forget what Trump was saying about NAFTA and how he was going to do away with it and bring American jobs back. That resonated with a lot DINO's (Democrats in name only) who value the issue of labor and manufacturing jobs, due to them seeing NAFTA as a big part of their sector job losses (really it was automation). Thus, Trump said the right things to that demographic that allowed him to win Michigan (while Hilary was connected to NAFTA via her husband).......which is apropos given that overall, its a red state whose labor interest turns it blue sometimes.
Honestly I don't know about that. Detroit, Oakland co, Ann Arbor, Flint, Lansing, Muskegon and Kalamazoo always go blue I believe. If democrats have a high voter turnout then Grand Rapids, Macomb co, as well as some other counties go blue as well. That's the majority of Michigan's population right there. This was a low voter turnout for democrats and a big turnout for republicans and it was still pretty close in Michigan.
Core cities in America almost always vote democrat. The problem is, however, that the vast, vast majority of the population of most states do not live in principle cities. If you add up the population of Michigan's 5 largest cities, Detroit, Grand Rapids, Ann Arbor, Lansing, Flint...you get about 1.2 million people. However, there are 10 million people in the state. I do not know what those numbers are in regards to voting age population, but the ratio is about the same.
Avoid Ann Arbor and you will be fine. Most places are a mix of viewpoints or are pretty open minded and accepting. (Ann Arbor is not at all open minded and accepting). Some places are overwhelmingly conservative. Detroit is very liberal but even there, people are tolerant of other viewpoints.
The irony of this statement, Ann Arbor is by far the most tolerant place in Michigan.
Disagreeing with some of your half-baked ideas and values doesn't equate to not being "open minded" or "accepting".
lmfao, you're splitting up numbers based on ****ing city proper technicalities. About 5 million people live in the Detroit area alone which is mostly democratic, the vast majority of Michiganders live in these cities.
Keep spinning the fairy tale though.
It was not my intention to be comedic...but if I can make a person laugh or smile and it cost me nothing....its been a good day. Really....I may have misunderstood M's point. I did not notice that he was talking about Metropolitan areas as opposed to core cities.
My argument is not really one of whether or not there are more Republicans than Democrats in the state. My point, which Coldj understood, is that a lot of Michigan democrats are democrats mainly due to the issue of labor. In other words, people who are against abortion, gay marriage, affirmative action, social programs, etc.....but vote democrat because they are in a union and or have strong family ties to unions.
Michigan is a big labor state that traditionally was big labor unions. Thus, it makes sense that the majority of people in the metropolitan areas of the motor state vote democrat because of labor interest. What I am saying is that many of these people are really conservatives.....if not for the interest of labor. The point of whether there are more democrats than republicans in the states largest metros is irrelevant if they are not voting. Based upon voter participation, Michigan is really a RED STATE....at heart, if not the ballet, if not for labor interest.
There may be a lot of Democrats who do not vote (meaning that if voting was mandatory, democrats would always win).....but I think it highly unlikely that a conservative relocating to Michigan would move to an areas of low voter participation rates....which generally are poor and or inner-city communities.
Last edited by Indentured Servant; 05-18-2017 at 12:39 PM..
It was not my intention to be comedic...but if I can make a person laugh or smile and it cost me nothing....its been a good day. Really....I may have misunderstood M's point. I did not notice that he was talking about Metropolitan areas as opposed to core cities.
My argument is not really one of whether or not there are more Republicans than Democrats in the state. My point, which Coldj understood, is that a lot of Michigan democrats are democrats mainly due to the issue of labor. In other words, people who are against abortion, gay marriage, affirmative action, social programs, etc.....but vote democrat because they are in a union and or have strong family ties to unions.
Michigan is a big labor state that traditionally was big labor unions. Thus, it makes sense that the majority of people in the metropolitan areas of the motor state vote democrat because of labor interest. What I am saying is that many of these people are really conservatives.....if not for the interest of labor. The point of whether there are more democrats than republicans in the states largest metros is irrelevant if they are not voting. Based upon voter participation, Michigan is really a RED STATE....at heart, if not for labor interest.
There may be a lot of Democrats who do not vote (meaning that if voting was mandatory, democrats would always win).....but I think it highly unlikely that a conservative relocating to Michigan would move to an areas of low voter participation rates....which generally are poor and or inner-city communities.
I find your posts well articulated and thoughtful.....I may not always agree but I appreciate the civil tone.
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