Red and Blue states?

[DonCoquixote]

Every election, there is a lot of talk of "Red" and "Blue" states. I realize that , thanks to our outdated Electoral college, it is easy to think that everyone in Texas is conservative, and everyone in California is liberal. But that is exactly the illusion that needs to die. I say this as someone who has lived in New Jersey and Florida.

The fact is, the real divide is between Urban America, and Non-rural, which covers everything from Hyper expensive Bedroom suburbs to rural patches.
What do I offer as proof? I know some here see any antecodal evidence as worse than a lie, so, I say this: Check the Urban areas in any state, even Red states, you will see they all are patches of Blue. New Orleans, Houston, Jacksonville, Austin, Tampa all of them show up as Blue, and most have Democratic mayors.

Now, on the contrary, go to the Rural or Suburban parts of Blue States. Orange County California is one of the more Infamous GOP hotbeds, to say nothing of parts of New Jersey that are owned by people who live in Manhattan (the yuppies that put Christie in.)

I am not downplaying Geography, but we do need to realize that, yes, there is such a thing as class in America, and yes, Class is the big factor in this election. Urban areas are ignored because they have become the home of the underclass. The rural places have love shown on them because they are told that the Urban working class has cheated them, that education is worthless, and that religion should be the dominant force in all culture, as it is in the rural areas.

[Warpy]

1. I don't think you can dismiss urban areas as "home of the underclass"

any longer since the suburbs have overtaken the cities as hotbeds of poverty, a switch that happened during the last administration.

In addition, urban dwellers are generally better educated and wealthier than those who fled to the suburbs. Cities are reverting to their original pattern, centers occupied by the well to do and surrounded by slum areas occupied by the people who keep their lifestyles going.

I might also point out that the "underclass" doesn't vote, by and large, that hopelessness is a part of that problem, knowing that no party much cares about their problems and wishes they'd just go away.

However, you're right about the rural areas. Part of the reason they stay conservative is that it's reinforced by the churches, the only social venue that doesn't involve fistfights.