“Affluent Suburbs out west are still firmly Republican.”
Were that it so. But it isn’t, at least in Oregon. The two affluent Portland suburban counties — Washington and Clackamas — voted to re-elect an astoundingly unpopular democratic Governor in 2006 by a 6.6 percent margin (Clackamas) and a 19 percent margin (Washington). Incumbent democartic Congressman David Wu (he of the Klingon flub up and consistently anti-Administration votes) won re-election in the prosperous 1st District with just under 82 percent of the vote.
Not encouraging, and I don’t think it’s gotten any better since then.
hopefully that is only true on the east and left coasts. I’m in Denver, and while the city and Boulder (a northern suburb, university town) are firmly moonbat, the surrounding suburbs are VERY republican. Tancredo is my representative and wins overwhelmingly.