Exactly How Right Wing is Phoenix/Arizona? (area, immigration)

[VOC1]

Originally Posted by Kimballette

I always find it fascinating that people get so worked up about the supposed political "atmosphere" of a city. I've lived in Gilbert, as well as far east Mesa (Las Sendas). At no time did I ever feel pressured or oppressed by ultraconservatives or Mormons (a perennial hobbyhorse in these forums). I suppose much of it does have to do with whether you're in the habit of discussing religion or politics with neighbors. I am not. I was raised to believe it's not polite.

This....1000x THIS! I thought most people were taught at a young age that discussing politics and religion in polite conversation was rude and tacky. Show some class and you won't have any problems at all. If you go around with a chip on your shoulder looking to start political arguments, you will find them.

Originally Posted by Ponderosa

I was watching a comedian on TV last night and he had a whole slew of jokes about racists in Arizona. In Arizona of all places! I used to travel and was always proud of the my home state: we had so much going for us in the 90s. Now, you sort of hang your head and wait for the questions about "that Sheriff" or whether we are really that racist when you tell someone you come from AZ. We are no longer an example of growth, opportunity, and a promising future. Instead, we are the brunt of jokes and a caricature of racism and closed-mindedness. It is sad and regretable.

Yeah things sure have changed, I mean back in the old days AZ was known as this liberal haven on par with San Fran, right? Not like today with those evil dirty right wingers who have completely changed the character of the state and "are moving the state towards the Mississippi model". Ah the good old days....



[snip-off topic]

[MotleyCrew]

Originally Posted by Kimballette

I always find it fascinating that people get so worked up about the supposed political "atmosphere" of a city. I've lived in Gilbert, as well as far east Mesa (Las Sendas). At no time did I ever feel pressured or oppressed by ultraconservatives or Mormons (a perennial hobbyhorse in these forums). I suppose much of it does have to do with whether you're in the habit of discussing religion or politics with neighbors. I am not. I was raised to believe it's not polite.

So I heartily second part of what Freddy posted --> "Please don't NOT buy in a city that appeals to you otherwise, solely due to political leanings of the majority."

I agree with you. We loved Seattle and would have moved there if things had worked out differently. I never put a political face to it, just liked the city.

[azriverfan.]

A lot of the politics changed in the last 7 years due to the economy. When the economy tanked, it led to a lot of finger pointing and things like illegals and excess government spending were labeled the scapegoat for all the problems. That led to an increase in conservative thinking and many independents bought into it and voted for Republicans and conservatives at every level. This led to a lot of extremist thinking among our government leaders. Even our politicians like McCain, who was recognized as a moderate and a "Maverick" who would disagree with his own party, moved to the far right in order to pacify the conservatives in this state. When the economy improves, you will see a shift back to the left. And it's already starting. Many of these anti-Latino laws like prohibiting illegals from gaining access to public education etc. were shot down because Arizona residents were getting tired of our reputation and how it was negatively impacting tourism.

But some of this is due to bad luck too such as the shooting of Giffords which led people to think the shooting was politically motivated when it wasn't. Jan Brewer wouldn't be governor if Napolitano didn't vacate the position to become Homeland Security Secretary. And if Napolitano was still governor, many of these laws would have been vetoed thus never making the headlines.

Yes, I don't like our reputation but that matters little in the big scheme of things. The reality is that this place is not right wing. My day to day experience doesn't reflect that. Who cares what people in other states think if that's not the reality. People can think whatever they want. People who move here are pleasantly surprised and realize AZ isn't the crazy state they heard about on the news.

And while this bothers me, what also bothers me is our apathy toward voting. A lot of people complain in this state and on this forum yet don't vote. If you are that lazy that you can't have a ballot mailed to your house for you to fill out then you really don't deserve to complain. I think about AHCCCS being denied to many people but it's often those people that don't vote yet complain. If you don't like too many social services being cut, then you should vote for Democrats. But if you leave the voting to the Snowbirds and the wealthy conservatives, then guess what's going to happen.......more social services being cut, more right wing laws, more bad national press. It's up to you.

[azriverfan.]

Originally Posted by Java Jolt

I still hold to my beliefs that the grand majority of people here are not extremists or knuckle-dragging ignorant neanderthals.

Yeah but the grand majority are knuckle-heads to a degree because they don't vote. We always talk about the grand majority and I agree with you that the majority don't think that way but they are also full of apathy and don't take part in politics either and are part of the problem. In other states, those people would be voting. In Arizona, people still think they are on vacation here for the last 20 years and think they are still from Michigan, California, Illinois etc

[Sco]

I think that most people in the Phoenix area are moderates that either lean slight right or slight left. The base of support for the most extreme politicians like Arpaio and Brewer are the retired senior citizens that move to Phoenix/Arizona from other places. The politics in a place like Sun City are much different than you will find most places in the state, they are much more likely to support the racist nutbags that increasingly make up the state's image.

[azriverfan.]

Originally Posted by Sco

I think that most people in the Phoenix area are moderates that either lean slight right or slight left. The base of support for the most extreme politicians like Arpaio and Brewer are the retired senior citizens that move to Phoenix/Arizona from other places. The politics in a place like Sun City are much different than you will find most places in the state, they are much more likely to support the racist nutbags that increasingly make up the state's image.

I agree 100% but the problem is many of these moderates don't vote. The Sun City folks want to minimize their taxes and social spending. They don't care about schools and health care for the poor. The nutbag politicians cater to this group by promising that and then attach their right wing social agenda along with it and it gets passed.

Think about 1070. There are so many LEGAL Hispanic residents in this state in addition to illegals. If the legal Hispanics took offense and raised their voice and made an issue of this, things would change but they were relatively quiet during that episode which surprised me. You would think they would have started a massive letter writing campaign and threatened not to re-elect politicians but none of that materialized. You can drag a horse to water................

[Sco]

Originally Posted by azriverfan.

I agree 100% but the problem is many of these moderates don't vote. The Sun City folks want to minimize their taxes and social spending. They don't care about schools and health care for the poor. The nutbag politicians cater to this group by promising that and then attach their right wing social agenda along with it and it gets passed.

Think about 1070. There are so many LEGAL Hispanic residents in this state in addition to illegals. If the legal Hispanics took offense and raised their voice and made an issue of this, things would change but they were relatively quiet during that episode which surprised me. You would think they would have started a massive letter writing campaign and threatened not to re-elect politicians but none of that materialized. You can drag a horse to water................

Can you really blame them? During that whole SB1070 fiasco, Arpaio was harassing and arresting anyone that wasn't white, he didn't care if they were legal or not. It takes a lot of courage for any Hispanic to raise their voice with that kind of racial profiling going on.

[Ponderosa]

Originally Posted by Sco

Can you really blame them? During that whole SB1070 fiasco, Arpaio was harassing and arresting anyone that wasn't white, he didn't care if they were legal or not. It takes a lot of courage for any Hispanic to raise their voice with that kind of racial profiling going on.

SB1070 was mostly thrown out before it was even in effect and the rest was never enforced. Even AZ's employer e-verify law,which was upheld by the Supreme Court, is almost totally ignored with respect to enforcement. I think there was no groundswell of opposition because nothing changed after SB1070.

And there was a reaction. The guy who authored 1070 was recalled, the County Attorney is facing disbarment, Arpaio is likely on his last term, and the rest of the agenda the Republicans had planned with respect to immigration was canned under pressure from business leaders.

It may interest you to know that a large majority of Arizonans polled support the Dream Act or something similar and a path to citizenship. It is truly not as bad as it appears from the outside. Arizona, like many states, is held hostage to the extremists by gerrymandering and a partisan primary system.

[AZ bound]

Originally Posted by Sco

Can you really blame them? During that whole SB1070 fiasco, Arpaio was harassing and arresting anyone that wasn't white, he didn't care if they were legal or not. It takes a lot of courage for any Hispanic to raise their voice with that kind of racial profiling going on.

I see your point, and I hope that more Latinos are directed to the article in Time this week about the Latino vote.
Among other things, it told of how a PHX firefighter won a seat on the city council, and the Obama administration followed the whole thing closely, and wants to use his strategy as a blueprint for this campaign

[buckeyenative01]

Originally Posted by azriverfan.

I agree 100% but the problem is many of these moderates don't vote. The Sun City folks want to minimize their taxes and social spending. They don't care about schools and health care for the poor. The nutbag politicians cater to this group by promising that and then attach their right wing social agenda along with it and it gets passed.

That by far is my biggest pet peeve with the political landscape in this state. I'm a millennial, but I take voting very seriously, and typically spend about three hours on my absentee ballots researching everything before making a decision.

Problem is, given my personal politics versus the majority of people in this state that vote, at least 80% of what I vote for will typically get shot down.

My problem is primarily with the people who move here that have no ties to the state, who fail to see the benefit in any of the social services younger generations of Arizonans need (or may need in the future). These are, if I'm not mistaken, the majority of people who bother to vote in this state, and they're the ones who typically vote against everything that may benefit Arizona in the long run (stuff like education, social safety nets, etc).

It reeks of a mentality that boils down to "I got mine, the rest of you can p**s off" that pervades so much of the state's political system nowadays.

Last I checked, we were all in this together, regardless of personal politics. I may be borderline libertarian, but there is a need for government services in modern society...