Posted on 10/09/2004 12:46:44 AM PDT by Cableguy
If by the dawn's early light of Nov. 3 George W. Bush stands victorious, seven of 10 presidential elections will have been won by Southern Californians and Texans, all Republicans. The other three were won by Democrats -- a Georgian and an Arkansan.
This rise of the Sun Belt is both a cause and a consequence of conservatism's rise, which began in 1964 with, paradoxically, the landslide loss of the second post-Civil War major-party presidential nominee from that region -- Arizona's Barry Goldwater, four years after the first, Richard Nixon. His campaign was the first stirring of a mass movement: Nixon's 1960 campaign attracted 50,000 individual contributors; Goldwater's attracted 650,000.
Conservatism's 40-year climb to dominance receives an examination worthy of its complexity in "The Right Nation," the best political book in years. Its British authors, John Micklethwait and Adrian Wooldridge of the Economist, demonstrate that conservative power derives from two sources -- its congruence with American values, especially the nation's anomalous religiosity, and the elaborate infrastructure of think tanks and other institutions that stresses that congruence.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
I've been looking at old electoral college outcomes. Did Reagan every kick but. He managed to get New York and California. Has NY and CA become even more liberal than before?
Yep. I live in CA. More liberals are moving here everyday. Not to mention illegals. And more conservative folks are moving to AZ, CO, UT, etc.
What's Stockton like? Is it conservative there?
If they're moving from CA, wouldn't they be mostly Dems?
SF, LA and the pot-growing North coast are the only Dem areas...the rest is "red."
America will never be Europe. Europeans are facinated with grand theories. Americans settle for the nuts and bolts approach to government, accepting what works reasonably well and discarding the rest. We do have a welfare state but on our own terms. Its meant to protect society's most vulnerable members without undermining the work ethic and Americans' belief this country's greatest days are still ahead of her. Europe may never understand why America rejects liberalism but we do know we haven't messed things up badly. As long as we don't, the world will keep looking to America as as a beacon of light in the darkness.
Actually, the lead of Democrats over Republicans in California has gone DOWN by 9% since 9/11/2001.
The Dems in NY have increased their lead over Republicans 5% since 9/11.
Source: Pew research study, which is fascinating reading. http://people-press.org/reports/display.php3?PageID=750
My experience is primarily in SF Bay area and LA/Orange County. Stockton is not an area where most people check out.
I was just thinking that LA and SF are obvious liberal strongholds. Are there more conservatives in Eastern CA?
You should do an Internet search for voting in the last few elections. LA Times and few other sites had maps showing which counties voted for whom. If I remember correctly, SF is strongly Democratic. LA is marginally Democratic. The rest are either close or Republican leaning. But the Dems have a huge registration lead overall.
No, but the party organization is a disaster in California.
I'll add a 2 cents on Stockton - it had 0 population gorwth in the 80s because the town leaders wanted total control. I doubt much has changed for this farming community. In the late 60s their biggest employeer appeared to be government or U. of Pacific.
I think you are right, but for the wrong reason. The problem isn't that Dem votes are buried, but that the Dems are outreproducing conservatives through bribery, illegal immigration, media/educational indoctrination, and fraud. They get first crack at young minds in the schools sytem and on TV, and while many sensible people grow to reject it, many people aren't sensible.
Demographics favors the unscrupulous. They don't care aout balancing regional and populational interests. They want a straight popular vote because they think it favors them.
Ditto. And without God, understanding will be a long time in arriving for them, while their brightest youth will indeed look to leave for our shores, again. We'll be the light for a good long while.
Here is the single telling stat from the article:
The percentage of Americans who believe that success is determined by forces outside their control has fallen from 41 percent in 1988 to 32 percent today; by contrast, the percentage of Germans who believe it has risen from 59 percent in 1991 to 68 percent today.
Two THIRDS of Germans point the finger to some 'they' out there who owns the outcome of their lives. No WONDER they love government, have faith in government. No WONDER Europeans are such a mess.
No wonder my ancestors were so anxious to leave. Praise be to God for the courage to risk it all.
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