Do the Conservatives have a city equivalent to San Francisco?

[Bicoastal]

I was just reading Nate Silver's Esquire article about how Obama is one the most urban presidents we've had in generations--not just for his multicultural heritage and Chicago roots, but because he won a larger margin of support from the big cities than any president in the last 20 years.

I only recently deduced that Republicans HATE cities: not just San Francisco, but also Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Detroit, DC, Miami, Boston, Baltimore, St. Louis, Denver, Cleveland, etc. They now hate New York too, after a brief love affair that lasted from 9/11 to around 2004. On Freerepublic, they always pass around stories of crime and corruption going on in these areas, always wondering aloud why anyone would possibly want to live there. Too noisy. Too dangerous. Too...ethnic.

So, what's the largest city that meets with favor from the Republican crowd? Houston? Phoenix? San Diego? Where is the Conservative Castro Street? Or do they have one at all?

[Laf.La.Dem.]

1. I vote Dallas

His new "home town" or his new "ranch"

[Unsane]

6. Dallas County voted for Obama, try again.

[PBS Poll-435]

14. Dallas (Dallas County) overwhelmingly voted in Democrats in county-wide elections.

Democratic Sheriff

Democratic County Clerk

Democratic Tax Assessor/Collector

We have a moderate Republican as Mayor. Laura Miller, a Democrat, was Mayor for many, many years being elected after Ron Kirk (US Trade Rep-Designate) was Mayor of Dallas.

[Fearless]

44. Definitely not, very liberal.

[Shakespeare]

88. Not even close.

Just because he'll be sequestered away in Highland Park in NO way means Dallas is a conservative city.

[rainbow4321]

137. Nope...Obama won Dallas

and Dallas County.

Don't be fooled by chimpass claiming "Dallas" as his new home. He is moving to a very, very, very, very rich part of Dallas that does NOT represent Dallas as a whole. I don't imagine I will be seeing the Bushes down at the West End Dart lightrail station. Or anywhere else in real Dallas.
There is a reason that when he gave his pre-election day stump speech in Nov 2004 (at SMU) that he literally snuck into town at midnight and the event itself was a closed door, ticketed only event held at midnight.
I still think that the reason why he is flying to Midland on Jan 20th INSTEAD of Dallas is he knows that Dallas Dems/activists would be where ever he landed with lovely signs like "war criminal". Can't have that.

So he flies into Midland, a more chimp friendly place and will probably sneak into Dallas (again) in the middle of the night to his new gated commmunity.

[tridim]

2. Bejing?

[EFerrari]

3. Dallas? Salt Lake City? San Diego? Miami?

That's a really good question.

[Bicoastal]

11. Hmmm...

Dallas, San Diego, Miami-Dade, and Salt Lake Counties all voted for Obama...

...although Salt Lake's margin was by FAR the largest (less than 2000 votes.)

[EFerrari]

20. What about Little Rock, Montgomery, or Allentown?

[Freddie Stubbs]

35. The Mayor of Allentown, PA has a Democratic Mayor and the entire City Council is Democratic

[EFerrari]

43. Aha! So, you're trying to deflect attention from the DLC Allentown administration?!

:)

[AllentownJake]

91. LOL

Nice to see Ed is getting some DU love.

[jmacnola]

135. Little Rock is a blue city

Little Rock has voted Democrat for years and is the Democratic stronghold in Arkansas (55% Obama vs. 43% McCain.) We're actually a pretty progressive city and far from fundieland. Now, Northwest Arkansas is another story.

[CreekDog]

39. and Salt Lake City itself probably had a fairly big margin for Obama

as opposed to the county overall which was tight.

[CreekDog]

37. Salt Lake City and County voted for Obama

the city fairly strongly, the county narrowly.

[TheWraith]

4. Colorado Springs might be close.

It's deep red, heavily Christian fundie, heavily military.

Really though, it's just snobbery from the suburbs.

[cbayer]

10. That was going to be my pick. I think they have more fundamentalist churches

per person than any other city in the country.

[Creideiki]

99. They do now

They recently took over from Wheaton, Illinois (DuPage County, where I'm from) for that dubious distinction.

[EFerrari]

21. That's a good guess. n/t

[NYC Liberal]

23. Yes. I've been there. Fundie central. nt

[Cash_thatswhatiwant]

58. bingo

[Arugula Latte]

114. God, that place sucks.

The mountain is pretty, though. I'll give them that.

[BuyingThyme]

5. Vatican City.

[anonymous171]

40. Doubt it. Although the pope is a homophobe,

he also claims support the environment and the poor. Doesn't sound very GOP-ish to me.

[sniffa]

7. It used to be Kandahar

[MichaelHarris]

8. crap man

they have their own state. Ever hear of Oklahoma?

[Radical Activist]

9. Plano TX. OKC

[justabob]

61. Plano is a good choice

I was thinking of Fort Worth, but Plano is better.

[AlCzervik]

12. Former USSR before is split up, they love no freedom of speech and a 1 party system.

[Unsane]

13. Oklahoma City

[Milspec]

102. Or Tulsa

[horatioturbo]

15. Provo, Utah has been called the "Most Conservative City in America"

It's the city where BYU is and is also in "America's Most Conservative District"

For the most part though, conservatives don't have "stronghold cities" but rather "stronghold counties" or "stronghold areas". Places like Orange County or the Florida Panhandle.

[Common Sense Party]

52. Yup. It's Provo by a long shot.

Just down the road from me.

[lunatica]

16. Wasilla, Alaska and every "Real American" small town in the US

Slosh for brains Sara Palin showed us where real Americans live during her campaign.

[EconomicLiberal]

17. I believe it is Phoenix.

[Bicoastal]

19. You may be right--Maricopa voted for John Mccain.

But that wasn't just because he's from there, is it?

[EconomicLiberal]

22. Maricopa voted for W by a larger margin than it did for McSame.

[Bicoastal]

27. Still--Maracopa's a lot more than Phoenix:

It's also Glendale and Scottsdale and Tempe and Peoria...

[AZ Criminal JD]

143. Phoenix voted for McCain 54% to 45%.

http://www.azcentral.com/elections/

[ddeclue]

18. Ummm Orange County California, Oklahoma City, Salt Lake City..

yeah there's lots of them..

[Liberalboy]

24. Colorado Springs

[rug]

25. Fresno

[PBS Poll-435]

26. bwahahaha!

:hug:

[xchrom]

28. 1 in 4 san franciscans voted 'conservatively'

in the 08 election cycle.

just a point of information.

[Bicoastal]

29. One in four Americans think Bush is doing a good job right now...

San Francisco may be more representative of this country than its detractors give it credit.

[xchrom]

31. that's a high percentage for us and reflects

the changes silicon valley and the dotcommers have brought.

it's still not the middle of kansas -- but it's not what freepers think it is either.

[Hieronymus]

30. Well, SF does have George Schultz...ohhh and DiFi.

[Sebastian Doyle]

126. Don't forget the Savage Weiner

I don't know how a guy who claims to hate anything and everything called "Liberal" can possibly live there. But then, Weiner is a delusional psychopath.

[pink-o]

129. My theory is that he needs to be in a place that infuriates him and keeps him

Psycho. What better place to offend your whack sensibilities than the original peace/love/no judgment city filled with people who care about the disenfranchised???

[CreekDog]

42. Hold on there, McCain lost 14%-84% in San Francisco

in the Bay Area, some 10 times larger than SF itself, McCain received only 24% of the vote. The Bay Area has 7 million people. If it were a state, there would be no others more liberal of its size.

[xchrom]

50. voting 'conservative' here doesn't mean they voted for mccain.

but they did on ballot intiatives -- i.e. yes on h8.

[CreekDog]

75. a lot of non conservatives voted for 8

sometimes the labels don't work.

[Bluenorthwest]

93. The vote makes them conservative

no matter what delusion they are spinning for themselves to the contrary.

[CreekDog]

103. no it doesn't

your delusions to the contrary notwithstanding.

[Sebastian Doyle]

127. If you vote against civil rights

You sure as fuck aren't a liberal.

[CreekDog]

136. doesn't necessarily make you a conservative

but i'm only taking issue with you calling everybody who voted a certain way conservative. i understand the point you were trying to make, i'm just not gonna let it go unanswered. ok?

[TheKentuckian]

32. They hate virtually any actual city

You ought to hear them talking about Louisville out in the state here, you'd think it was Vegas if they specialized in crack and meth instead of whores and gambling.

[mwb970]

120. That's what I was just thinking.

The very idea of cities appears to upset conservatives - not the leadership so much but rather the dittoheads and right-wing parrots that apparently now constitute the party at large. Sarah taught us that the smaller the town, the more "real American" it is. (I guess some guy alone on a hilltop is about the most American thing there could be.)

What is it though? Are they actually afraid of cities? Are they unable to deal with the fast pace and the high level of the dealings there? Maybe a swap meet is just more their speed, followed by a potluck social down at the church. I honestly don't know.

[TheKentuckian]

125. Probably the increase in minorities, access to different ideas, and variety in lifestyle

The great Republiscum masses run from the city to avoid "Libs", "coloreds", schools, museums, variety of economic options, and mostly to avoid direct repudiation of their fucked up beliefs. They are afraid that they will even change their minds if constantly bombarded with other information and diverse opinions.

They are roaches running from the light more than anything else. They aren't trying to avoid what metropolitan centers offer as such, they want to take their amenities to their undisclosed bunkers and teach their kids to be as stupid and worthless as they are.

[Number23]

33. Would Salt Lake City count?

My husband is always regaling me with stories from his one trip there. Where he met a man who was an outcast from his family for drinking coffee. Yes, coffee. Apparently it's viewed as too stimulating or something.

My husband (who is an Aussie) thought that was the wildest thing he'd ever heard...

[Freddie Stubbs]

38. SLC has a liberal Democratic mayor who has called for Bush's impeachment

[Number23]

34. Damnable dupe!

[Okie4Obama]

36. Oklahoma City

Oklahoma was the only state to go redder in this election. We have a Southern Baptist church on every corner. We have the most right-wing newspaper in the country. We suck.

[Bicoastal]

41. Don't forget Inhofe!

:evilgrin:

[Fearless]

45. Wasilla!

[avaistheone1]

51. I'll second that.

[snooper2]

86. Yep

nt

[SuperTrouper]

118. Bingo!

[Fire1]

46. I say Indiana and Ky.

[AllentownJake]

48. Indiana went blue

They are still on double secret probation though.

[Fire1]

49. Look again!

[razors edge]

47. Jonestown and Johannesburg,

but they lost control of them just like everything they touch.

Now they need to defile other places.

[snowbear]

53. Jonestown.. Yeah, I pick that one!

.
.
.

Good answer!!

[razors edge]

57. It does seem that way, don't it.

But I think that most ideologs, of whatever faith, would sacrifice the whole of their civilization to avoid facing their mistakes.

[Sebastian Doyle]

54. Virginia Beach VA

Home of Pat Robertson, Ollie North, formerly Jerry Falwell (now in Hell) and the Unchristian Coalition.

[riverdale]

67. & Plaxico, Iverson, Vick and Juice Newton

[Blue_Tires]

78. not to pick nits, but

Iverson (who has actually matured and stayed out of trouble in recent years) is from Hampton, and Vick is from Newport News...both are about 20 miles from here on I-64

[closeupready]

115. Richmond?

n/t

[DemBones DemBones]

141. You forgot the Edgar Cayce Institute. nt

[snowbear]

55. When Delay was in trouble, his lawyer was asked where in TX he'd select for a jury....

.
.

...if he was allowed to make the choice. A reporter asked him that after he whined about it being held in Austin.

He said if he could pick anywhere in Texas, he'd select Fort Worth.

I've never been there.. but evidently, he thought it was rTHUG friendly..

[baldguy]

56. If they had their way there would be no cities.

[Cash_thatswhatiwant]

59. Oklahoma City and Tulsa? Though not big cities, its full of fundies and freepers.

[PM Martin]

60. Sure they do, they have as a matter of fact.

there's Tehran, Kabul, Karachi, Medina, Cairo, just to name a few.

[rvablue]

62. Can't believe I'm the first one to say: Midland, TX. n/t

[snowbear]

69. I'll say Midland, Texas

.
.
.

Oh wait. rvablue already said that...

Come to think of it, that sounds like a good pick!

[EFerrari]

122. That isn't a city, is it?

:shrug:

[ShortnFiery]

63. Yes, there's one that's a FAV with both the NeoCons and the GOP investment class ...

It's Dubai, United Arab Emirates. It's the new VEGAS baby! :puke:

The ruling class is setting up diggs "over there" ...

GOP? What? You didn't truly buy that "patriotism" garbage because that was only for the easily duped peons to enable their MONEY GRAB. :evilgrin:

Can you say "One World Order?" :wow:

What Drew Halliburton to Dubai

Despite persistent rumors that Dubai's bubble is about to burst, the tiny Arab sheikhdom keeps on growing, and real estate prices continue rising. Whatever controversy the announcement that oil-services giant is re-locating its headquarters to Dubai may be generating on Capitol Hill, in the Gulf region it is being seen as validating Dubai's ambitions to become the new frontier of globalization. At High Society Real Estate, Lesar would learn that a one-bedroom apartment in his new hometown will cost anything from $200,000 to $2.9 million. A relatively commonplace property offered by High Society is a $1.4 million, five-bedroom, 7,469-sq.ft. villa in the Dubai Sports City complex. That's if he can get one at any price, because the delivery date for many luxury dwellings is a year or two away. "Things are booming and the boom will continue," says Boutros Boutros, an executive at Dubai's flagship corporation, Emirates Airlines. "No matter how fast we run, Dubai stays ahead of us."

Halliburton is merely the latest in a growing number of banks and other global service companies making Dubai their Middle East hub. At present, oil provides only 3% of Dubai's GDP, with services accounting for three-quarters. As Sheikh Mo noted when he unveiled his government's new Strategic Plan last month, Dubai has no intention of slowing down. The Ruler vowed to pursue 11% annual growth through 2015 to realize Gross Domestic Product of $108 billion and an average personal income of $44,000 a year. That's pretty big talkin', even by Texas standards.

[leftofthedial]

64. Houston.

Definitely Houston.

Atlanta not far behind, but their part of that town is the suburbs.

Houston is infested in every corner.

[Juche]

65. Most urban areas have huge non-white populations

That is why they are so strongly democratic. I heard somewhere that many/most large cities have 50%+ non-white populations now.

You'd have to have a city that is huge but is still almost purely white and that has almost no multiculturalism. The big minority population and all the diversity of culture and opinion is why large cities are democratic. I can't honestly think of any big cities that would be republican. Even southern large cities tend to lean democratic.

[patrick t. cakes]

66. ive always heard cincinnati

was a concervative strong hold. :shrug:

[snowbear]

68. Seriously? .. A place that nominated Jerry Springer as mayor?

.
.

Zow. I think we'll need a Cincinnatian to check in and give us the scoop..

[scheming daemons]

70. Cincinnati.... definitely

The most racist, hate-filled, bible-thumping city you'd imagine.

[bevoette]

73. we just came back from there, and did not see racism or hate...

we're an inter-racial couple...visited in-laws, all over town...attended extremely upscale holiday party (doctors, writers, some women who had framed pics of she and W...)

conservative, but we experienced no hate or racism :shrug:

[falcon97]

97. Well, the county is much worse

than the city itself. There is a lot of talk among suburbanites about "crime" in the city, and how "unsafe" it is. I don't know if that's blatant or not, but it's certainly code. It came to the surface in 2001 during a week of rioting/unrest following a police shooting. On the bright side, Hamilton County voted Democrat for the first time since the 60s. So, maybe things have gotten better....but having grown up there, I doubt it.

[mwb970]

121. Am I crazy? I *like* cities.

The country makes me nervous. There's ... You got crickets and it-it's quiet ... there's no place to walk after dinner, and... uh, there's the screens with the dead moths behind them, and... uh, you got the-the Manson family possibly, you got Dick and Perry...

[Every Man A King]

112. didn't run into any cops i guess? n/t

[rucky]

109. The Northside is awesome, though.

Good racial mix & very progressive.

[Maru Kitteh]

71. Provo, Utah. Look it up.

[Augdog20]

72. Just look to burbs of West & sun-belt

Oklahoma cities,
burb clusters outside of Dallas & Houston, smaller cities of Colorado. South HATES Democrats,
probably also Columbia, S.Car.

On the other hand, read David Brooks, He admits we have BURIED the Repugs in the cities, esp the bicoastals.

[mwei924]

74. For a city its size, San Diego.

If you really want to find a conservative equivalent of SF or New York, the city must be quite small and not really urban enough to be considered a very major city. San Diego however is a large city (with a greater pop. than San Francisco) yet still has a good conservative population. Also, some suburban areas by SD are still included as the city and considered "San Diego".

[grantcart]

76. the city of San Diego has been a majority of Democratic voters for some time.

San Diego County has been more Republican up until this year when Democrats out registered Republicans for the first time. The county went for Obama by + 9 %.

With a large Hispanic vote the county did vote for 8 but almost at the exact rate as the state.

Unions have a big impact on city policy and the Mayor, while nominally a Republican, made a strong statement against 8 that was well received and wasn't particularly objected to by other Republicans.

[Iggo]

77. Berlin, 1936.

[Blue_Tires]

79. repubs aren't really about cities, anyway

they are about cushy, exclusionary super-suburbs and that mythical "middle america"

[AntiFascist]

80. They meet once a year at the Bohemian Grove...

but the press isn't invited so you won't catch them doing anything 'San Francisco-like'.

[Agent William]

81. Altus, Oklahoma?

From what I've heard it makes rural Washington look like San Fransisco.

I could be wrong... Am I?

[Two Americas]

82. Grand Rapids MI?

Most conservative part of the state.

[alwysdrunk]

83. Cincinnati

Conservatives have Cincinnati.

[WonderGrunion]

84. Branson, TN

At least to the LIV Repuke

[MyUserNameIsBroken]

87. You mean Branson, MO, right?

Not that I like admitting it's in my state...

[AngryAmish]

95. No, Branson MA

[HeeBGBz]

139. Branson, MO

It's where I live and work. The politics sux.

[theboss]

85. Cincinatti

I think I win.

[falcon97]

98. It's actually

spelled 'Cincinnati.' But yes, if the Queen City is not the most conservative then God help the place that tops it.

[Shakespeare]

89. Pensacola, Florida. Not comparable in size, but as hardcore republican a place as you'll ever find.

And, as a city, it sucks.

[HughMoran]

90. San Diego

:shrug:

[slackmaster]

100. We have TWO openly gay men on our city council

I guess that does make us somewhat like San Francisco, now that I think about it.

[Amimnoch]

92. Tehran?

Hates gays,
Ruled by religion,
Treats women as 4th class citizens/property,
has abortion abolished,
loves war and violence.

[SteppingRazor]

94. Colorado Springs, CO, also known as "The Evangelical Vatican."

More than 80 major fundamentalist Christian groups are headquartered there, the most prominent of which is Focus on the Family. Along with a huge population of evangelical Christians, the place is also home to a very large military population -- Fort Carson, two Air Force bases, the US Air Force Academy, NORAD, etc. -- and quite a few retirees.

All told, I don't think any city could quite make the claim of "the Republican San Francisco" quite as well as Colorado Springs.

All that said, I lived there for four years, met some great people, had some great times. It's a nice place, especially if you're big on the outdoors. Pikes Peak is right in the city's back yard, there's lots of excellent skiing nearby, and all that.

[uponit7771]

96. FORT WORTH TEXAS, Only urban area of it's size in US that votes GOP.

Fort Worth Texas population is bigger than Vegas

[wyldwolf]

101. North Fulton County, (North Atlanta) GA! Here's why

ok... just call it the future Conservative version of San Francisco

1. It's home to Newt Gingrich's congressional district - the heart of the Republican Revolution
2. In the early 90s the Washington Post described the area as “the Great White North, a Republican pollster’s dream, a sprawl of affluent suburbs as far as the eye can see, a Lexus in every driveway and a Lean Cuisine in every microwave.”
3. Since then, the GOP has successfully "created" (incorporated) new cities like Sandy Springs and John's Creek - all controlled by Republicans. They join existing GOP controlled cities like Roswell and Alpharetta.
4. The GOP's mission is to change the GA constitution to re-establish the Old Milton County to contain all of the above cities.

[DemBones DemBones]

142. Compared to Cobb County/ Marietta???

:shrug: AFAIK, Newt, Larry McDonald (remember him?) and Bob Barr all live(d) in Marietta.

[Rockholm]

104. Cincinnati, OH and Greenville, SC

[mod mom]

105. I'd vote for Baghdad.

[BlooInBloo]

106. Somewhere in Deliverance-land.

[Tektonik]

107. Fresno, Provo, Colorado Springs

[nxylas]

108. Columbia, SC

Mind you, I'm biased because I have the misfortune to live here. Any eccentric millionares reading who would be prepared to pay for me to relocate somewhere nice like Boston or SF?

[Yukari Yakumo]

110. Here's how to find it.

Take a map of Alabama.

Throw a dart at it.

Whatever town, hamlet, or hovel it lands at is your answer.

[DailyGrind51]

111. Wasilla, if it was larger.

[ronnykmarshall]

113. Bakersfield

[Aloha Spirit]

116. I am confused...Salt Lake County, Obama won by 300 votes?

https://secure.slco.org/clerk/elections/results/public/

[JoePhilly]

117. This is a GREAT question ... we should expand it ... what are the top 10.

My reasoning is that we need to know where the opposition is strongest.

And ... based on that ... can we make a list of RED TARGETS ... these would be red counties that we could turn blue.

Those give us the ends of the spectrum.

(we should also analyze our own top and bottom 10, FOR SIMILAR REASONS)

[Aloha Spirit]

119. going be 2008 election....huntsville and mobile alabama

trying to find cities more than 200,000 population that were strongly Republican in the Pres. election
http://elections.nytimes.com/2008/results/president/map.html

[Rockholm]

132. Very cool map.

[crimsonblue]

123. Colorado Springs

It is home to New Life Church, the biggest megachurch in the country. It is also home to Focus On The Family, and a whole host of other conservative organizations. Not to mention that the Air Force Academy is located there. You got Guns, God, and a plethora of private christian schools. I hate that town with a passion. Plus, has anybody ever tried driving around the Springs? It is fucking horrible, not because of immense traffic, but because the complete lack of city planning. Streets are not anywhere close to straight, and the city is way to spread out.

[Arkana]

124. Houston, TX.

[8 track mind]

128. I'll second that, Houston, Texas

any other city doesn't even come close to Houston. They have Faux news playing 24-7 in both airports. Scary place.

[slutticus]

130. Worse than Dallas/FW?...lol

I want whatever you're smokin'

Ever been to Duncanville? Now THAT is the shit-curdling definition of scary.....

[Arkana]

131. They also had the distinction of being the fattest city in America

a few years ago...they are still in the top 5, but Detroit is #1 now.

[Barrymores Ghost]

133. MOSCOW. N/T

[Rosa Luxemburg]

134. not many cities would want them

only people out in the fields

[gauguin57]

138. I'm gonna suggest Hooterville.

[olegramps]

140. Repubs hate cities because it is difficult for them to hide their incestuous habits from detection.