Not a bad article. You have to take Flint into account, though. Madoff, too, for that matter. And you can throw in ISIS.
Right now, people are more concerned about their immediate safety than about devolving power to states and communities.
So in that sense, a conservative attitude of responsibility does beat out the idea of returning to some less centralized system of government in the minds of voters.
Watch out, x. Knives are flying.