Red, Blue and . . . So 17th Century?

Washington Post ^ | 03/28/04 | Joel Kotkin

[iconoclast]

This sort of strained historical comparison, where facts are distorted to make a consistent comparison, is ridiculous.

I'd call it more of a nice try that didn't work.

The thing that surprised me most was that this guy is a Senior Fellow at Pepperdine U., which I thought was one of the few conservative leaning places of higher learning.

[hosepipe]

[ America is approaching a flash point and some here are straining at gnats while swallowing camels. [

You can say that again.. The sky is'nt falling... it already has fallen, I believe... running around clucking(like henny penny) is so silly.. the current political fog "IS" the clouds we see... we need fog lights not clucking.. I fear anarchy not revolution.. Revolution before the anarchy is the only option.. I.E. No revolution?-->> anarchy and chaosville is the next stop.. ALL ABOARD!....

[Travis McGee]

True. And we've hardly seen anything of the potential for our external enemies to worsen our internal conflicts.

[Travis McGee]

A "bad crop" is so right. I see Gen Y's with 1/2"D holes punched through their ears, (not to mention tatoos all over, pierced lips etc) and I shudder. This is nihilism in its purest form, a crop ready for mass grave duty or loading cattlecars. All they need is a really cool Maximum Leader dressed all in black.

[Travis McGee]

You and me both!

[CasearianDaoist]

Just so.

[Badray]

With your way with words, no wonder that you are an author.

[Badray]

That's you, alright.

LOL

[NYC GOP Chick]

Oh come on! You know that I am a sensitive, tolerant, in touch w/ my feminine side, '90s kind of guy! Humble too ;-).

Of course, everyone knows that what a shy, demure thing you are! Then again, you're sounding dangerously close to metrosexuality there! ;D

[Wallace T.]

Right ultimately prevails. Check out the Book of Revelation. The good guys win!

[Jack Black]

A few points. The Pacific Northwest is not the progeny of New England, and it's not a liberal bastion either. Look at the map again. In the state of Oregon only 3 or 4 counties went for Bush. Eugene the University city and Portland, and the beach communities where the rich liberals have their vacation houses. That's IT. Not even the Portland suburbs went for him. Washington is close to being the same. Even California has more Blue area than Red. The popular vote was also very, very close in Oregon and Washington. Both are "battleground states", with huge internal fights every year about taxes, land use, etc.

They are not consensus liberal bastions like Mass and NY.

[Jack Black]

This map!

[Jack Black]

A "bad crop" is so right. I see Gen Y's with 1/2"D holes punched through their ears, (not to mention tatoos all over, pierced lips etc) and I shudder. This is nihilism in its purest form, a crop ready for mass grave duty or loading cattlecars. All they need is a really cool Maximum Leader dressed all in black.

Scariest thing I've read in a long time. And throw in the 'Che' t-shirts and you have a picture of weirdly twisted people who admire mass murderers already.

[Wallace T.]

As with Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota, New Englanders or New Yorkers and Ohioans of New England lineage were prominent among the early pioneers of Oregon and especially Washington, as well as Northern Califormia. Many of the most prominent families were of Yankee origin, For example, in San Francisco in 1850, 17% of the native born American population were of New England origin and a large portion were Ohioans and New Yorkers. The lineage of John Reed, socially prominent Portland resident and early American Communist, was from New England and New York. Three of the first five governors of Oregon under statehood were of New England or New York origin.

The 2000 census indicates that German-Americans represents the largest single population group in Oregon's population, at 23% of the population. The state also has a significant population of Irish-Americans (presumably both native Irish of mid-19th Century origins around Portland and Scots-Irish of 18th Century migration in the interior) and of Scandinavian descendants.

Oregon's interior and the Hood River Valley received a large element of settlers from Missouri, an understandable emigration source inasmuch as the Oregon Trail began at St. Joseph, Missouri. Membership in churches of all denominations as a percentage of the population drops off abruptly in the more populous coastal counties vs. the figures for the interior. Evangelicals particularly show a strong tendency to reside in Oregon's interior.

All these factors come to play in analyzing the politics of Washington and Oregon and to some extent Northern California. In many respects they resemble Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Illinois, with liberal big cities offsetting more conservative rural areas.