Is Wisconsin really THAT conservative? (Milwaukee, Madison: 2015, buying, live)

[MovingBadger]

Originally Posted by Rambler123

I love the ignorance demonstrated here.

No, it's right-wing loons calling for the extermination of gays, the poor, etc. - far worse than "handing out flyers" - oh no!

And let's not forget groups like the Westboro Baptist Church - far right-wing, and they love protesting.

You do know that Fred Phelps the head of the vile Westbero Church is a lifelong Democrat and was buddies with Al Gore right? Sorry if that goes against your stereotype.

http://www.georgialogcabin.org/news/...10251159.shtml

Also the 1st Openly gay congressman was elected from Wisconsin in the late 80s (and a Republican for what it's worth) and not in the oh so liberal metro areas of Madison or Milwaukee but little old redneck rural West Central Eau Claire area.

So you may want to check your elitism- looks like those simpletons were enlightened a lot earlier than their liberal counterparts. People cared much more about Mr. Gunsersons dairy policy than his sexuality - as it should be

[SickOfAllThePC1983]

Originally Posted by Rambler123

I love the ignorance demonstrated here.

No, it's right-wing loons calling for the extermination of gays, the poor, etc. - far worse than "handing out flyers" - oh no!

And let's not forget groups like the Westboro Baptist Church - far right-wing, and they love protesting.

Don't pathetically try to free associate Westboro with typical conservatives. Classic tactic. Calling it out as BS.

[MKEastsider]

Originally Posted by SickOfAllThePC1983

Don't pathetically try to free associate Westboro with typical conservatives. Classic tactic. Calling it out as BS.

It was the neoconservative agenda that created the monster that is the WBC. The book "What's The Matter With Kansas?" does a great job at illustrating how the neocons used the controversy surrounding the abortion clinic in Wichita in the late 80s/early 90s to rid Kansas of the moderate Republicans like Bob Dole that they'd been known for and ushered in the far-right regime that begat the WBC.

It should be required reading for all Wisconsinites considering that's what's been happening here in the 2010s... only instead of abortion, it's built on racial resentment and anti-urban hysteria.

[MKEastsider]

And to answer the original question in this thread... Wisconsin's problem is that for every Milwaukee or Madison, there's a few dozen Waukeshas, Janesvilles, and Sheboygans. You get the occasional exception of an Indian reservation or a western Wisconsin town that depends on a public university or union labor to survive. But for the most part, outside of the two main cities, Wisconsin is a very insular environment where people rarely know or socialize with anyone who's not just like them, and its politics have come to reflect that.

[MovingBadger]

Originally Posted by MKEastsider

It was the neoconservative agenda that created the monster that is the WBC. The book "What's The Matter With Kansas?" does a great job at illustrating how the neocons used the controversy surrounding the abortion clinic in Wichita in the late 80s/early 90s to rid Kansas of the moderate Republicans like Bob Dole that they'd been known for and ushered in the far-right regime that begat the WBC.

It should be required reading for all Wisconsinites considering that's what's been happening here in the 2010s... only instead of abortion, it's built on racial resentment and anti-urban hysteria.

Except the WBC was ushered in by lifelong Democrat (and Al Gore buddy) Fred Phelps - not right wing radical Republicans. Great talking point, it's just too bad it's not true

[cheese plate]

Originally Posted by MKEastsider

And to answer the original question in this thread... Wisconsin's problem is that for every Milwaukee or Madison, there's a few dozen Waukeshas, Janesvilles, and Sheboygans. You get the occasional exception of an Indian reservation or a western Wisconsin town that depends on a public university or union labor to survive. But for the most part, outside of the two main cities, Wisconsin is a very insular environment where people rarely know or socialize with anyone who's not just like them, and its politics have come to reflect that.

Well, this is a fairly extreme statement, considering the Driftless is blue in national elections, in fact it's the only white rural blue block outside New England and was considered one of the keys to Obama's election. There are no reservations, and it's nearly all non-union (mostly small business/farms). It's also about a quarter of the state's land. This is in addition to the iron range northwoods areas (union) and the reservations.

WBC wasn't even about religion or politics, it was about a crazy guy/family (let's face it, they're nuts) full of LAWYERS out to test and push US laws to the limit. Your average Republican was a POS in their eyes, just like your average Democrat. Religion was only a means.

[everwinter]

Originally Posted by cheese plate

it's the only white rural blue block outside New England and was considered one of the keys to Obama's election.

What?
There are plenty of white rural blue blocks throughout the country.
NE Minnesota, SE Minnesota, good portion of E Iowa, West Washington (NW of Olympia), & so on.

[cheese plate]

There are dozens of articles on Obama and the "Driftless Effect" that was one of the keys to winning the election, just do a simple search: TheMoneyIllusion » Was the Driftless Area Obama’s ace in the hole?

The Iron Range is a small area comparatively, but noteable. SE MN & E IA are part of the Driftless block. West Coast of Pac N'West is an urban-dominated strip along the Pacific that doesn't reach a single county away from the water. The Driftless doesn't include a town bigger than 100,000, and is dominated by farming. It doesn't get much more rural than that area. It's bigger than several eastern states.

The Driftless block and the New England one are the only rural white blue blocks of significance.

[MKEastsider]

Originally Posted by cheese plate

Well, this is a fairly extreme statement, considering the Driftless is blue in national elections, in fact it's the only white rural blue block outside New England and was considered one of the keys to Obama's election. There are no reservations, and it's nearly all non-union (mostly small business/farms). It's also about a quarter of the state's land. This is in addition to the iron range northwoods areas (union) and the reservations.

In the last gubernatorial election, only 16 out of 72 counties went blue, and only 6 of those (Milwaukee, Dane, Menominee, Douglas, Bayfield, and Ashland) did by more than 55%. The rest that went blue were only by a thin margin, and most were places like La Crosse, Eau Claire, and Portage, which all have a UW campus.

Say what you will about what a weak candidate Mary Burke was, but a guy like Scott Walker wouldn't have had a chance if any of these places were as solidly blue as Milwaukee or Madison.

[CurlyFries]

Wisconsin is blue in every election