Posted on 03/06/2012 7:38:14 PM PST by nickcarraway
A fine new report from the Public Policy Institute of California updates what we know about the state's political geography.
For decades, the political divide in California was between the Democratic north and the Republican south. But in recent times, analysts have talked about a blue Democratic coast vs. the red Republican inland.
PPIC's new report concludes that the coast vs. inland explanation isn't exactly right.
When you dig deeply into the numbers, the state's real political divide puts the two former rivals -- Los Angeles County and the Bay Area -- on one side of the partisan divide, and the rest of the state on the other.
Even more intriguing, PPIC finds that while the state has become more Democratic, California is really only as liberal as its reputations in the Bay Area.
"In the rest of the state, even in Los Angeles County," says the report. "California is more conservative and less consistently defined by geography than conventional wisdom would sometimes suggest."
Indeed, on an ideological scale, public opinion data show the average Californians in the middle and "leaning slighty conservative."
We're right of center!
This could be an opportunity for Republicans. But many moderates and conservaitve support the Democratic party. And altering this could be hard because the Republican party may be too small an ideologically rigid to reach out.
The full report is here.
Hmmmmm....is Admiral Akbar in the background?
The dems have the hippy, gay, minority and douchebag vote here but the rest of us can still tell $hit from Shinola, thank you very much.
If gozilla stomped flat the first 10 miles fom the beach to indland, Calif might as well be Wyoming.
If you smell salt, well, that’s fruits ‘n nuts territory.
Who cares? Even most Republicans in California are to the left of Karl Marx.
Then why do they keep re-electing that marxist harpie Barbara Boxer to the Senate? Why did they elect Governor Moonbeam? How do you account for Henry Waxman? Why is the Legislature run by communists and illegal aliens/Atzlan advocates? What about the monumentally left-wing traitorous mayor of Los Angeles? I call BS on this whole preposterous thing.
It’s a lot more granular than you think.
Go to a parking lot in Berkeley (Alameda County) and count the BO bumper stickers.
Now go to Walnut Creek (just one county over and a 20-minute drive on a good day) and look for BO bumper stickers.
See any?
Better yet, go to the Rockridge BART station (one mile south of Berkeley) (Oakland) and look for BO bumper stickers on a weekday.
See any? (Bear in mind the owners of those cars are AT WORK.)
Reaction #1: I think most Frenchmen are to the right of the average Californian.
Reaction #2: Center right? Why is the entire government of California from National level on down run by liberals?
AS someone born and raised in California all I can say is, what California are they talking about, because its not where I live?
In my observation it is more subtle than that,
I think a LOT of Californians are realistically conservative on fiscal issues (and annoyed to horrified by the irresponsibility of our legislature as any person should be) but much to the left on social issues, environment, homosexuality (prop 8 was really more a phenomena of a very well organized Mormon and Catholic coalition than widespread dislike of homosexuality), cannabis and interventionist foreign policy ( I do not know of anyone who actually gives a crap about Syria, for example).
Think of the typical ‘conservative’ as a hippie, or ex hippie, who now owns a business and has to pay taxes and deal with OSHA; not at all down with the “morality brigades” of the Bible Belt but justifiably suspicious of big government.
That is why Arnold played so well; he was in a lot of ways a typical blend of Californian values, fiscally conservative but socially liberal (that he proved to be an incompetent and dishonest putz is besides the point, they all roll that way out here but the time they get to sacto)
Hogwash. In the densely populated areas, the liberals are THICK! Where the population is widely dispersed, it’s a mixed bag with a conservative edge, but not so very wide an edge as this report would have you think. It’s a lot like the rest of this country.
We’re doomed barring revival.
Easy. Because the CA GOP is left-wing and does all it can to sabotage Conservatives. If the state party actually offered a real, substantive choice and stopped trying to echo the Communist Democrat party it might actually start to win again.
I can’t imagine the problems they are going to have once the Panama Canal is enhanced and Georgia’s Savannah port and other east coast ports are deepened and enhanced.
If we maintain a “right to work” and keep the terroristic port unions out (isn’t it ironic that the terroristic OWS thugs are shutting down California ports on wimps?) then Kalifornia is sunk and will have to get their affairs in order.
‘Cept Arnie wasn’t fiscally Conservative. He made Davis look like a spendthrift tightwad. He was an across-the-board Socialist.
Reagan won. If Obama lost Cali, then he has ZERO chance of winning 2012.
IMHO, this just one of those stories to suck the ‘pubs into wasting $$$ on campaigning in kali-fornia.
Well, he played one at election time :-)
‘Cept he won his first term as Governor in 1966. If the CA GOP was run by Tom McClintock types, the party and the state would be in far better shape today.
People hurting look for responsible adults to fix things.
For brevity's sake, we shall henceforth refer to it as the "Asshat" vote....
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.