Is Pennsylvania's state politics different from the rest of the country? (Wyoming: home, centers)

[BajanYankee]

Originally Posted by trackstar13

Your above statement is incorrect and Erie county, which is in the western portion of PA, is 55% democrat in terms of registered voters and only 33% republican (the rest of the voters are independent). The city of Erie itself is even more "blue" as you call it than the county. Before you make blanket statements about PA maybe you should actually research these things a little better.

Yes, of course, I was supposed to highlight the one f-ing exception in Western PA amidst an ever-growing sea of red.

Pennsylvania Election Results 2012 - Map, County Results, Live Updates - POLITICO.com

[BajanYankee]

Originally Posted by Gnutella

Yeah, it's because the two states have similar terrain and a history of coal mining. Fayette County is often considered to have the worst quality of life in Pennsylvania, but it's paradise compared to eastern Kentucky. For example, here's a map of median household income by ZIP code in the Appalachian Mountains

No, that's not why people call it that. When people say "Pennsyltucky," they are referring to James Carville's statement that "Pennsylvania is Alabama without the Blacks." That's what they mean. They're talking about the cultural dynamics of the rural parts of the state (guns, NASCAR, religion, etc.) rather than the topography or industry.

[BajanYankee]

Originally Posted by Duderino

I agree that the GOP (practically everywhere) has gotten more conservative, although part of that is former "RINOs" that have left the party to become Independents or even Democrats (remember our old pal Arlen Specter)?

Here's the rub. The data shows that more Pennsylvanians consider themselves "conservative" than in the past two decades. So even if Republicans defect to the Democratic Party (or become Independents), that still doesn't explain why more people are identifying as conservatives. You'd think that the numbers would remain the same (or even decline according to your theory), but that's not what's happened. We've seen the opposite trend.

The Political Express – Are Pennsylvania voters becoming more conservative?

Whatever the causes of the shift in expressed ideology, the result is consequential. There is widespread consensus among academics that a state’s ideological composition relates to state-level policies. One need only look at Pennsylvania and the recent changes in state policy introduced by Governor Corbett for confirmation of this fact. As Pennsylvania voters have become more conservative so have the state’s policies.

[Sayid Linus]

Originally Posted by BajanYankee

No, that's not why people call it that. When people say "Pennsyltucky," they are referring to James Carville's statement that "Pennsylvania is Alabama without the Blacks." That's what they mean. They're talking about the cultural dynamics of the rural parts of the state (guns, NASCAR, religion, etc.) rather than the topography or industry.

Then I'd imagine nearly any state could be called "......tucky".
Not that I care very much but, you are going out of your way to prove PA is this sort of redneck haven. Weird.

[trackstar13]

Originally Posted by BajanYankee

Yes, of course, I was supposed to highlight the one f-ing exception in Western PA amidst an ever-growing sea of red.

Pennsylvania Election Results 2012 - Map, County Results, Live Updates - POLITICO.com

You do realize that Erie and Pittsburgh are the population centers of western PA and they are both "blue" right?

[ki0eh]

Originally Posted by Gnutella

Yeah, it's because the two states have similar terrain and a history of coal mining. Fayette County is often considered to have the worst quality of life in Pennsylvania, but it's paradise compared to eastern Kentucky. For example, here's a map of median household income by ZIP code in the Appalachian Mountains:



I've outlined Pennsylvania for everybody's convenience. Notice the lack of extreme poverty in Pennsylvania, and the abundance of extreme poverty in Kentucky. And this is just one indicator in which rural Pennsylvania comes out well ahead of the other regions of the country that it's all too often compared to. If people actually knew the differences, they'd stop making the comparisons because they'd realize how ignorant they look.

The map is interesting but does not tell the whole story IMHO. The irreducible cost of living close to the edge in a rural area in, say, western NY and to some extent PA is also higher due to higher property tax burden and higher home heating costs. Comparatively tougher rules concerning on-site sewage disposal and vehicle inspections in PA hit hard close to the edge as well. The net visible result does not differ as much as one might think by looking at this map.

[ki0eh]

Originally Posted by BajanYankee

Also, nobody bothered to address the question from the article I posted.



NAFTA, perhaps?

Wedge social issues have been wielded very well to separate rural and white ethnic voters from what some may view as their class interests.

[BajanYankee]

Originally Posted by Sayid Linus

Then I'd imagine nearly any state could be called "......tucky".
No that I care very much but, you are going out of your way to prove PA is this sort of redneck haven. Weird.

Umm...not sure where you get that from. I feel like this website has a very liberal slant and that many of you find the notion of the state being socially conservative offensive (and yes, your state is socially conservative when both Senators, including your Democratic senator, oppose abortion).

My point was simply the following: social conservatives are not some tiny, vocal minority in the state. There's a tendency on the part of C-D liberals to minimize the conservative vote for whatever reason. But the polling data shows that the state is actually more socially conservative than some traditionally Republican leaning states (VA, CO, IA). And that's quite remarkable, imo, considering that the state has two of the largest metro areas in the US (Philadelphia is the 7th largest and Pittsburgh is the 23rd largest).

And to reiterate my earlier point, these socially conservative voters enabled George W. Bush to be competitive in the state despite it having two large Democratic strongholds. So if you think they're a tiny minority, then you are clearly delusional. If they were a tiny minority, then Pennsylvania would have two liberal Democratic Senators like New York (or even Michigan) rather than a socially conservative Democrat and a Republican.

Now if you'd like to offer some exit polling or academic literature or something, please post it. I really like that stuff.

[Sayid Linus]

Originally Posted by BajanYankee

Umm...not sure where you get that from. I feel like this website has a very liberal slant and that many of you find the notion of the state being socially conservative offensive (and yes, your state is socially conservative when both Senators, including your Democratic senator, oppose abortion).

My point was simply the following: social conservatives are not some tiny, vocal minority in the state. There's a tendency on the part of C-D liberals to minimize the conservative vote for whatever reason. But the polling data shows that the state is actually more socially conservative than some traditionally Republican leaning states (VA, CO, IA). And that's quite remarkable, imo, considering that the state has two of the largest metro areas in the US (Philadelphia is the 7th largest and Pittsburgh is the 23rd largest).

And to reiterate my earlier point, these socially conservative voters enabled George W. Bush to be competitive in the state despite it having two large Democratic strongholds. So if you think they're a tiny minority, then you are clearly delusional. If they were a tiny minority, then Pennsylvania would have two liberal Democratic Senators like New York (or even Michigan) rather than a socially conservative Democrat and a Republican.

Now if you'd like to offer some exit polling or academic literature or something, please post it. I really like that stuff.

Alabama, North Dakota, Wyoming Most Conservative States

[Sayid Linus]

Originally Posted by BajanYankee

Umm...not sure where you get that from. I feel like this website has a very liberal slant and that many of you find the notion of the state being socially conservative offensive (and yes, your state is socially conservative when both Senators, including your Democratic senator, oppose abortion).

My point was simply the following: social conservatives are not some tiny, vocal minority in the state. There's a tendency on the part of C-D liberals to minimize the conservative vote for whatever reason. But the polling data shows that the state is actually more socially conservative than some traditionally Republican leaning states (VA, CO, IA). And that's quite remarkable, imo, considering that the state has two of the largest metro areas in the US (Philadelphia is the 7th largest and Pittsburgh is the 23rd largest).

And to reiterate my earlier point, these socially conservative voters enabled George W. Bush to be competitive in the state despite it having two large Democratic strongholds. So if you think they're a tiny minority, then you are clearly delusional. If they were a tiny minority, then Pennsylvania would have two liberal Democratic Senators like New York (or even Michigan) rather than a socially conservative Democrat and a Republican.

Now if you'd like to offer some exit polling or academic literature or something, please post it. I really like that stuff.

Obama won PA by a wider margin than did Bush. That doesn't say (to me) that the state is becoming more conservative. If it is then a lot of these conservative types stayed home and weren't too concerned with the election of a (perceived) liberal. I know SE PA is where the majority of blue votes come from, but it really only makes up 1/3 of the states population. So surely there are enough potential voters out there to counter the democrats winning the white house in the last almost three decades.

.