California jobless rate jumps to 10.5 percent (Thanks Gub & DemRats,, Way to go, Waaaaay to go!!!)

Calcowgirl is right that local communities cannot be painted in black and white. Alot of them tend to swing from conservative to liberal. Especially in counties, it tends to vary a lot from town to town. There are undoubtedly solid conservatives living somewhere in L.A., and undoubtedly Marxist Democrats in downstate Illinois.

But as long as Mojave wants to keep harping on how L.A. was supposedly filled with "conservative" activists when Reagan lived there, and how Dixon was full of "liberals" that tried to indoctrinate Reagan to liberalism, here's the election results from 1980. Almost 30 years ago. Let's see how the people who knew him best voted back then.

PRESIDENT 1980

Lee County, Illinois
Reagan (R) 73.7% 11,373
Carter (D) 20.5% 3,170
Anderson (I) 5.1% 781
Other 0.7% 114

Los Angeles County, California
Reagan (R) 50.2% 1,224,533
Carter (D) 40.2% 979,830
Anderson (I) 7.2% 175,882
Other 2.5% 59,940

SOURCE: http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS

Reagan barely won over 50% in "home" county where he was living in 1980 (probably because overall the CITY of Los Angeles IS NOT CONSERVATIVE), but won his childhood home in a huge landslide.

Do you still think L.A. was "more conservative" than Dixon back in the Reagan era?

Mojave, when you're in a hole, you should learn when to stop digging.

I didn't say Dixon was "the reason" Reagan became a conservative. I said Dixon is a conservative town keeping the flame of Reaganism alive today. You, on the other hand, continue to insist Reagan became conservative thanks to living with the Hollyweird community for years. It ain't so. Just like the 1960s, most of Hollyweird is liberal with a handful of conservatives living among them.

I credit Reagan's switch to his work at General Electric, being introduced to Goldwater, and his second wife Nancy being a proud conservative Republican.

I DID credit Nancy's conservative Republicanism because her family were staunch Illinois conservatives (from nearby Galesburg, also a very conservative town) noted that the Davis family has ALWAYS been staunch conservatives, and that Nancy DID influence Ronnie in moving to the right. So I suppose indirectly, downstate Illinois did effect his outlook on life, but certainly it's not "the reason" Reagan became a conservative leader. (Read Reagan's bio though and he says his Illinois upbringing was a very positive effect in his life) And yes I think Bel-air has softened her conservatism (not an anti-southern California attack as you claim it is, just an anti-Bel air crowd remake. For example, if she lived in Thousand Oaks she'd be among good conservatives in southern California) Bel Air is far removed from salt-of-the-earth traditional American towns.

No need to insult Dixon to get your point across that Reagan became a Republican leader while in California. And Calcowgirl is correct that it's possible Reagan would have never been elected if he had stayed in Illinois and tried to run against the Chicago machine. We Illinoisans all know, and appreciate the efforts of those Californians. I've already said there are plenty of conservative Republicans in California who helped Reagan rise to fame -- just not many in the places he lived in!

Dixon was full* of "liberals" that tried* to indoctrinate Reagan

*Strawmen.

The Ronald Reagan that emerged from Dixon wound up a liberal Democrat. Ronald Reagan developed into a conservative Republican in California.

You refuse to confront these facts, understandably preferring to dance around them.

Mojave, when you're in a hole, you should learn when to stop digging.

You would do well to take your own advice.

1. By the way, I hate to break the news to you, but Ronald Reagan is actually "from" Illinois. Born here, raised her, educated here, began his career here. Illinois "gave" you guys Ronald Reagan, not the other way around

2. I didn't say Dixon was "the reason" Reagan became a conservative.

"Illinois" (furtively changed to "Dixon" in subsequent posts) gave us a liberal Democrat. California gave America a conservative giant.

BillyBoy, when you're in a hole, you should learn when to stop digging.

Here's a thought. I don't think a city can make one conservative or liberal. People are influenced by their family, their education, friends, mentors, their work environment, their level of curiosity and logical thought processes, etc.

How about everybody just be thankful that there was a Ronald Reagan? How about we acknowledge that even average Joesephinas like me can grow up in Los Angeles and end up conservative? No matter how many liberals infest this place, there are also millions of Conservatives that when presented with a logical, thoughtful arguments ill react. Reagan was a good communicator, able to talk to the average Joe and successfully rallied people who have since tuned out. McClintock did much the same thing during the recall election by getting out on local radio and discussing issues in terms every Californian could understand. It's time to wake up that sleeping giant again but you can't do it with watered down principles or washed-up politicians like John McCain. It ain't Rocket-Science, IMO.

People are influenced by their family, their education, friends, mentors, their work environment, their level of curiosity and logical thought processes, etc.

Very true. Ronald Reagan was influenced by southern California conservatives Alfred Bloomingdale (Beverly Hills), William French Smith, Charles Wick, Holmes Tuttle, Joseph Coors, Lyn Nofziger, etc.; as opposed to Barack Obama's mentor Bill Ayers (Chicago, Illinois).

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