Survey: America’s most conservative state is…
The top 10 conservative states are all red states that vote reliably Republican in national elections, all located in the nation’s Southern, Midwestern, and Mountain West regions. These include (in addition to Alabama, North Dakota, and Wyoming) Mississippi, Utah, Oklahoma, Idaho, Louisiana, Nebraska, and Arkansas. There is not, however, a perfect correlation between ideology and party. Three of the 10 most Republican states — Kansas, Montana, and Alaska — do not rank among the most conservative states. And Mississippi, Louisiana, and Arkansas rank in the top 10 conservative states but not the 10 most Republican.
The top 10 liberal states — Delaware, Connecticut, Washington state, Rhode Island, Hawaii, and New York, in addition to D.C., Massachusetts, Oregon, and Vermont — are all reliably Democratic voting states. All but Vermont and D.C. are on one of the two coasts, or — in Hawaii’s case — surrounded by the Pacific Ocean. There is somewhat more accordance between the most liberal and most Democratic states. Only Illinois and Maryland rank among the most Democratic but not the most liberal. Oregon and Washington state rank among the 10 most liberal states but not the 10 most Democratic.
Blowback
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Pfft.
Montana is a “most Republican” having elected the liar Jon Tester twice as their Senator? And Texas, which hasn’t elected a Democrat state wide in 25 years, is not even listed.
Marcus on February 1, 2013 at 10:54 PM
Split WA & OR into E & W halves. West = Liberal. E = Conservative.
Do the same damned thing with ND & SD.
MT is all messed up with little enclaves of conservatism & islands of fracked liberals. Like Missoula.
I watched W WA transform fully into a liberal hell.
It’s why I moved to WY.
Badger40 on February 1, 2013 at 10:55 PM
How come ND voted for a D senator then?
Schadenfreude on February 1, 2013 at 11:22 PM
Tunnel vision. I’m convinced lots of folks in ND don’t get news from the outside world, so they don’t understand just how screwed up the country is. They have that oil boom out there, and their economy is just fine.
Othniel on February 1, 2013 at 11:51 PM
I was born in W WA. I, too, have watched it transform into a livable moderate area into the nightmare liberal zombie land it is now. I wish my family could relocate to another, more welcoming state, but it might be too late now. I have considered Wyoming though–only downside would be the winters and the fact it’s land-locked. I do love the ocean.
theotherone on February 2, 2013 at 12:20 AM
Er, that should be “transform FROM a livable moderate area”.
theotherone on February 2, 2013 at 12:20 AM
If you want to see on the major Progressive “Hellmouths” in America that no one ever mentions go to Montgomery County, Maryland. It makes neighboring, majority African-American, Prince Georges County look conservative.
Home of Rep. Chris Van Hollen, Progressive Lunatic.
William Eaton on February 2, 2013 at 12:25 AM
The reason a shady Dimocrat senator like Louisiana’s Mary Landrieu (D-Harrah’s) can weasel her way into the senate is because of the same corruption which gets inmate William “Cold Cash” Jefferson into the House, and soon to be inmate Ray “School Bus / Chocolate-City / Pay to Play” Nagin or sleazy Marc “I think I’ll marry WWL-TV’s hack reporter assigned to cover me” Morial into the mayor’s office. Funny money. From the Mafia longshoreman’s union to the casino rackets to the Katrina ghetto politics skimming and free ride from the Times-Picayune newspaper and other TV like WDSU…. NOLA is pretty much the island of Dimocrats in a state which outside of NOLA and Orleans Parish is very similar politically to Texas… particularly since the Ronaldus Magnus years.
Except for how the Dimocrats have FUBARed Birmingham with about 40 years of Obamaesque mayors pimped by the now practically Marxist “Birmingham News” (now selling their newspaper buildings) … Alabama is strongly Conservative except on or near the college campuses (like everywhere else).
viking01 on February 2, 2013 at 12:45 AM
… well I guess that post will remain in moderation purgatory.
viking01 on February 2, 2013 at 12:56 AM
The Bakken boom didn’t extend down here to South Dakota, but we have the same problem when it comes to electoral politics. I think it has more to do with agricultural subsidies.
gryphon202 on February 2, 2013 at 2:03 AM
How about some sympathy for me? Jim Moron is my congressman. Pulled in about 66% in 2010.
crrr6 on February 2, 2013 at 2:17 AM
Alabama is over 25% African-American and the black voters there are as left as their counterparts anywhere. So more than anything, this shows the political difference between the races in the South.
radjah shelduck on February 2, 2013 at 7:17 AM
When I first saw that poll on the Liberal/Conservative/Moderate mix of each state, I immediately thought, here we go again, another garbage poll where the respondents can’t find their asses with two hands and a flashlight.
All conclusions are based on an underlying premise. That goes for anything in life, including polls. For a poll to be even close to accurate, the premise must be proven to be correct. If the premise is incorrect, the results are garbage. In this case, the premise is simple- it is an accepted given that all of those polled know what it means to be Conservative, Liberal or Moderate. I don’t believe that for a minute. I contend that if you pull ten people off the street, they may give an answer when asked if they are Liberal, Conservative, or Moderate, but if they are pressed to explain why they are whatever they say they are, they will sound like a Jay Walker (One of the stupid people who Jay Leno has on his show occasionally).
I contend that 3-4 people out of ten barely know if they are Republican or Democrat because not only do they never vote, but they never even think about political ideologies. Many of these people can’t even name their Senator or Representative, much less what party they are in.
For those who consider themselves a little more learned about the categories of political ideology, I contend that at least 50% of them don’t really understand what it means to be Conservative or Liberal. BTW, what the heck is a Moderate? Even a fair number of people who classify themselves as Libertarian, don’t fully understand what it means. To many of those who claim Libertarianism, it simply means, “the government should just leave us the hell alone”.
I won’t go in to what makes one a Liberal, a Conservative, or a Libertarian, and I have no clue what the heck a Moderate is except to suggest that it’s someone with no prevailing principles. My point is that the majority of people don’t see themselves as a Liberal or a Conservative. They see themselves as a Democrat or a Republican, and most of them when pressed can’t really even give you a fact-based reason why they are one or the other. My father, who grew up in the depression, was a life-long Demorcrat who I am sure never, ever voted for a Republican even though I know his principles were strongly Conservative. Knowing that his beliefs were contrary to his voting record, I asked him why he was a Democrat. His answer was two words- “Herbert Hoover”. Of the six kids my Dad and Mom produced, one is politically ignorant and the other five are strongly Conservative and Republican. Why? Because we based our political affiliation on the principles we were taught.
This poll is worthless IMO. The premise is flawed, making the results more than questionable. It’s garbage in, garbage out, and it was conducted with a purpose, and I’m not convinced that the purpose is all that righteous. Polls have become drivers of opinion, not measurement of opinion. I strongly think that polls are a measurement of the effectiveness of the media because people develop their opinions base on what they hear, what they read, and what they see. We live in a politically corrupt world, and pollsters are a complicit element of that corruption.
I’d like to see a pollster do a poll that only includes those who truly have a clue or at least have it formatted in such a way to separate the knowing and the unknowing. I bet if they did that, the highest percentage by category, would be the group best described as “I don’t know and I don’t care”.
NoNails on February 2, 2013 at 7:18 AM
The GOP controls the state Senate after two Dems switched allegiances. Hmmm.
CW on February 2, 2013 at 8:02 AM
Give me a fracking break. Heitkampt was voted in, but do you two twits realize how close that race was?
Before the election I was traveling from W. where I live to E. to Wahpeton.
The only signs I saw in W ND were Rick Berg signs. You go East to the liberal part & it was Heitkamp signs.
The margin was thin.
We are getting a lot of people in Grand Forks, Fargo, Bismarck & Minot filling up the liberal $hithole & their votes are turning us slowly into socialist hell.
And don’t insult us by saying we don’t get the fracking news, if you please.
We do have Internet, TV, & gee, we’ve had radio stations forever.
Are you one of those d!ckweeds who think we still have wild Indians killing people around here?
I’ll advise you not to make insulting remarks about ND again.
The real reason Rick Berg LOST was bcs the man is a D!CK. He’s from Hettinger. Which is like 55 miles from us. I’ve met him. I’ve met John Hoeven.
They hate each other, BTW. They are both schmoozy jerkwads.
Heidi is not a bad lady, but I certainly don’t trust her.
We’ll see how she pans out.
BTW, I am a staunch conservative, but I voted for Ryan for Gov here & he is a Democrat. I know the man. He’s a rancher & he is a good man.
The GOP here in ND has managed, with their increasing majority in the State offices, to GROW our state govt.
My fracking property taxes went up %30. And ND has huge surpluses.
I hate all politicians equally.
And I held my nose for Berg. It was a tough decision to vote Heidi Heitkamp for a LOT of conservative North Dakotans.
But we’re tired of seeing our state govt grow, which has done so under Republican leadership.
The Bakken boom didn’t extend down here to South Dakota, but we have the same problem when it comes to electoral politics. I think it has more to do with agricultural subsidies.
gryphon202 on February 2, 2013 at 2:03 AM
I was born in W WA. I, too, have watched it transform into a livable moderate area into the nightmare liberal zombie land it is now. I wish my family could relocate to another, more welcoming state, but it might be too late now. I have considered Wyoming though–only downside would be the winters and the fact it’s land-locked. I do love the ocean.
theotherone on February 2, 2013 at 12:20 AM
Badger40 on February 2, 2013 at 8:37 AM
And this is silly.
We know there is an outside world. The oil boom may be growing our economy, but we’re all still affected by what goes on in the other states.
Our business, cattle producers & trucking, are very affected by the economy everywhere.
We are struggling like a lot of other people.
If you are so jealous of our oil boom, come you & get you some.
But don’t insult a fairly conservative state like this.
We’re all reeling from Obama’s blatant tyranny.
There are a LOT of people here who fear for our country.
Badger40 on February 2, 2013 at 8:41 AM