Do different states FEEL conservative or liberal to you?

[Moonbeam_Starlight]

Or was it just me? For those who haven't seen the liquor store thread, I just got back from a withering wonderful 5800 mile camping trip. Going through those different states was very interesting.

Did ya'll know there is a political graffiti fight going on in a chemical toilet in the Four Corners area of New Mexico? Yep. And it looks like the left is winning that one. It's all about bush and Iraq.

Did ya'll know Utah and Wyoming even FELT different to us? I cannot possibly explain how or why, but they *felt* incredibly conservative. They felt like home (Texas).

Arizona did not. New Mexico did not. South Dakota didn't feel like anything, to be honest. And we were only in Montana long enough to pee. Colorado? We were clearly too tired at that point to judge. But we did see a guy fall off his motorcycle on I-25 heading south through Denver. He hit the concrete guardrail, overcorrected, hit it again, flew off and was run over by a box truck. My friend, sitting in the passenger seat, threw up in a plastic bag after seeing that. And I gripped the wheel with sweaty hands for the next hour just wanting to be the hell out of Denver. So no feel for socio-political stuff there.

Idaho was the only state in which I saw five or more bush stickers.

And it wasn't until we were in a convenience store in Wichita Falls, Texas that I realized I hardly saw any African-Americans in most of those states. What is up with that? Or was it just my perception?

For the record here are the states (I am honestly not sure of the red or blue status of some of these): New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming and South Dakota. We studiously avoided coming back through Oklahoma (that's a little good-natured ribbing for all our Oklahoman DUers out there. You know I love ya. Kinda. LOL)

[Worst Username Ever]

1. I know MN feels more conservative than it used to. n/t

[slackmaster]

2. Absolutely YES!

Utah in particular makes me crazy.

There are a lot of nice people there but the whole Mormon thing casts a pall on society. I feel like I'm under suspicion when I get a cup of coffee at a Zippy Mart there.

[Moonbeam_Starlight]

3. Oooo do you live in Utah?

The national parks in the southern part of the state were absolutely awe-inspiring, but we found the rest of it to be pretty creepy. Apologies in advance to any proud Utahns out there, it just felt weird.

In Salt Lake City, we saw huge billboards for warehouses selling suits for missionaries.

And the Great Salt Lake just sucked. Totally sucked. Five million gnats per square inch, the water was bathwater warm and murky, the lake was so far down we had to walk over five million degree sand for half a mile to get to it. Just gross. And paid eight dollars for the priviledge. We hosed off our feet and left, smelling the rotting corpse smell the whole way. Worst part of our trip.

On edit: Utah is where we honestly saw the fewest minorities.

[slackmaster]

4. No, I have relatives there and have enjoyed nature there many times

I've even been skiing in Park City.

Utah is the only state where my progress down a major highway has been inhibited by a flock of sheep.

Texas has its turtles and tarantulas. Utah has sheep.

[West Coast Democrat]

5. The Great Salt Lake is not exactly a tourist hot spot....

If you're looking for a lake to visit in Utah, Lake Powell is the one.

[Moonbeam_Starlight]

6. Yeah found that out too late

it was funny to see all the groups of people go merrily down the beach toward the water, only to see them yell "GROSS!" and go running back up to their cars when they saw the water and the gazillion gnats.

We were on our way out of Utah at that point anyway. But Zion was one of my favorites of the whole trip. And we stayed two nights in Moab.

[West Coast Democrat]

7. Wasn't the hideous smell warning enough?

It's too bad they don't warn people at the tourism office or something! :-)

[Moonbeam_Starlight]

12. We wanted our eight dollars back, seriously. eom

[stanwyck]

8. Georgia feels conservative, but

there are growing pockets of liberalism. The liberals are waking up and posting yard signs and speaking up. We're not being the good-natured fools we've been in the past. Some people are shocked. Shocked! When they find out their mild, unassuming neighbors are, gasp!, liberals! And there are so many more of us than hate-radio led them to believe. Just wait until the election. Georgia may still go Bush. But the country won't. And Georgia may have a few surprises. I can hear O'Reilly, Hannity, and Rush sputtering now.

[Warren DeMontague]

16. Well, You've got Stipe down there in Athens...

Can't argue with that.

[Big Kahuna]

9. Yep

I live in Western Massachusetts. There is a line you cross driving east, into Worcester County, and suddenly you are surrounded by Bush/Voldemort 2004 bumper-stickers for about 50 miles.

New Hampshire is all about tax-free beer, cigarettes and explosives... Not much else going on upstairs.

Maine is just friggen scary. 30,862 square miles of potato farms, paper mills, abject poverty, misery, and storefront fundamentalist churches as far as the eye can see. If you visit a Maine Walmart or large supermarket, they have end-caps and kiosks full of creepy christian fundy books. Visit Old Orchard Beach sometime.. It's a big resort town full of Christian camps and retreats. They actually have a 'Christian Surf Shop" (oh gag me!) You can get a cross tatooed on your ass at 7 in the morning, but good luck finding a place open for your family to have breakfast. My wife and I are seriously thinking of opening a pagan shop there, just to piss everyone off! :O

[Kathy in Cambridge]

15. You nailed it on the head!

Welcome to DU, fellow Masshole! :D

Ware MA is a pretty scary town also!

[seabeyond]

10. again living in the panhandle of texas

whenever i get into new mexico i feel much more at peace. much mellower, a wonderful energy. love the feel of nm. colorado too, though i do feel a conservative and a p.c. of the state. saying a lot of rule following to fit, i do feel a more liberal. calif absolutely has its own feel. love the feel of cape cod and florida.

felt the conservative of okl and kansas yest further i went to iowa a much mellower energy. and louisianna has its own special energy

[Moonbeam_Starlight]

11. I absolutely ADORED New Mexico

at least the western central part of it. The western northern part (Four Corners) was just too damn red and dusty for my taste.

But yeah, I felt that wonderful mellow energy there. It was soooooo damn nice.

Is NM a "red" state?

[seabeyond]

14. it is an in question state

though from everything about the state should easily go to dems and the governor they have. i think just cause bush was texan they jumped on board last election, think it went to dems, was just sooooo close last election they couldnt call for a while. now i am thinking it is looking to go to dems, the mexican population isnt as much on bush side

[powergirl]

13. This Texan says it feels a little conservative down here. eom

[Warpy]

17. you're lucky you missed Alabama

I drove back and forth from New Mexico to Florida last year, and I couldn't believe the crap on the radio all the way through Alabama. Sure, it was the height of the Judge Roy Moore thing with his two ton monument to his religous arrogance, but I've seldom heard such poisonous crap anywhere but shortwave.

Georgia felt right wing. Oklhoma felt right wing. Texas felt right wing, and Florida felt ancient and right wing. Alabama felt downright Nazi.

[Moonbeam_Starlight]

27. I LIVED in Georgia and Alabama for a total of

four years. I was born and raised in Texas and GA and AL felt BEYOND Texas to me. **I** was scared. And I didn't live in a big urban area, either.

[misanthrope]

29. "Alabama felt downright Nazi."...

...From my experience, you nailed that one.

[Warren DeMontague]

18. Even different parts of California feel glaringly different to me, now.

I used to do a lot of cross-country driving, when I was younger.

And back in the late 80s, I drove a beat-up old japanese car with tons of, not only grateful dead stickers, but also lots of very left wing stickers to boot, all time appropriate: "Boycott South Africa, not Nicaragua" that sort of thing. And, I had very long hair.

I remember one trip I took, in 1989, through Oklahoma, The panhandle of Texas, etc. At one point we stopped in a little town where the only motel had a sign out front with a flag, that said "Clean Rooms- RUN BY AMERICANS". A cop followed me to the Texas border at night, but that's not so surprising. The only real weird energy I got was at a gas station in Southern Illinois, where a guy came up to me and my buddy and asked "Well. Whut aintcha against?".. But he didn't stick around for my response.

To be perfectly honest, though, and this is more of a gut feeling than anything else, the rancor around the debate in the US seems to me to have become much worse since that time. You've had right-wingers who've been incited by over a decade of hate radio. You've got the added testosterone of a war, which seems to bring out primal urges in certain people to violently quash anyone who disagrees with the gummint. I would drive through those states again today, but with far fewer stickers on my car.

Hmmm. What else. Utah? Man, every time I've gone there, it seems like there are blonde haired, blue-eyed, "village of the damned" types staring at me from doorways and windows. It's a strange place.

[DaveSZ]

20. I hear you on Wyoming

My dad is very dark skinned and I felt we were getting funny stares because of his race.

It's almost like Alabama there or something.

[DoctorWeird]

19. Illinois

Illinois is fantastic in Chicago but absolutely horrible in the suburbs and down south. I went to highschool in one of those Suburbs, Naperville. I carpooled in because I lived far south, in a poorer area. Naperville is in Du Page County, one of the wealthiest couties in the U.S. and there were so many bastards there, it made my four years hell. I remember during the 2000 elections they had a message board up and someone wrote "Please let Bush win, we've suffered long enough" and that pretty much characterizes the people there. The kids drove Lexus cars and didn't care about anyone but themselves. Bred that way. Particularly I remember this basketball game where my school's team was playing against a team from a very poor neighborhood. In my entire school, there were only 2 african americans and maybe 5 hispanics. Their team was composed entirely of minorities. We had new uniforms, their were badly worn. I remember that they were kicking our teams ass when a chant started. The kids on my side started chanting "That's ok that's ok you will work for us someday." Nice guys, future republicans.

[Warren DeMontague]

22. I grew up in the Chicago Area, myself...

Lived in Rogers Park for a while.

Downstate is a nightmare, but some of the suburbs are o.k.. it's my impression that even some of the wealthier ones have a liberal bend in places. Evanston is great. Driving around the north shore 'burbs the last time I was back, I was astounded at how many super-nice houses had Obama signs in the yard.

My family, the ones back there, all seem pretty sure that Kerry will take Illinois.

I like Chicago, the city, a lot-- it's great except for the weather.

[DaveSZ]

23. Wow what asses

I say we tax em.

:P

Hehe seriously though, Utah is also really creepy.

It does feel like the Village of the Damned.

The Texas cities are actually pretty decent believe it or not (especially Austin).

The rural areas are all hardcore Fundieuglican though.

[leftofthedial]

21. 'Round here, we got sumpin to say to yore kind . . .

Get outta Denver better go, go
Get outta Denver better go-ooooh
Get outta Denver better go, go
Get outta Denver
Cause you like just like a commie
And you might just be a member, better
Get outta Denver, better, get outta Denver

Parts of Colorado feel ultra conssssservative to me, but other parts are very progressive. It's a fragmented state, but it keeps electing Repukes to national office.

Still, it FEELS conservative to me. Most people are pretty ignorant and apathetic and easily swayed by talk radio.

[sweetheart]

24. utah is two states

divided.. by a diagonal, leaving the desert 4 corners part as part
of the indian lands, and the mormon north, park city, salt lake, etc,
as a land of barbarians.

The indian land power spots of the south are of no state, like north
arizona, belonging in spirt to the indian people who really are this
country and land connection.

Pretty much all the sacred land untouched remains sacred... and
little else remains of those earth cultures except good vibes in
that magic desert.

[Moonbeam_Starlight]

28. Wow you nailed it!!!

That's EXACTLY how those areas felt! We went to all the national parks: Arches, Canyonlands, Bryce Canyon, Zion, Grand Staircase-Escalante, etc. All of them. And they are mostly in the south and there was a wonderful energy there. That is to include parts of Arizona, and the Four Corners area of all four states there.

But once we headed north in Utah it actually FELT different everywhere we went. Weird.

[Delarage]

25. My sister's area of Florida...........

near Tallahassee, makes Florida feel right-wing to me. All the confederate flags (even at the beach--people have flotation devices with them on them) and the conversation I overheard between two obviously Repukenikans:

Husband: blah, blah, blah...niggers.

Wife: I told you to stop it. They are called Ne-grows, not "niggers."

Ick.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

26. I live in Western Washington - Eastern WA might as well be Texas.

Same is true of Oregon. In my job I had to travel to the "redneck" parts of the two states frequently. Once you cross the cascades you're in a different country.

I imagine the same is true in many states.

[DaveSZ]

30. Texas is the same way though

Austin is very liberal, but when you get out of the city it's Fundie central.