There are, in effect, two Americas: the "red" nation that voted for Bush and the "blue" one that voted for Gore. The "reddest" of the "red" counties tend to be those with a high percentage of conservative evangelical Christians (except for the Mormon areas in Utah and adjacent states). The bluest of the "blue" counties tend to be areas where the proportion of the unchurched and advocates of alternate lifestyles are far larger than the national average (except for counties where blacks, Hispanics, or Indians are the majority). Muskogee, Oklahoma vs. Berkeley, California, if you will. Or Collin County, Texas (suburban Dallas) vs. Marin County, California (suburban San Francisco).
Consider that standards of public decency and decorum are far higher in the most conservative areas than in the more liberal areas. (In Hank Williams, Jr.'s words, we say please and we say ma'am. A far better attitude than "Whaddayawnt, Jack?") Taxes are lower, as are the fees charged for automobile registration and other items. The public school systems attempt to teach the students and not brainwash children in the latest PC and diversity fad. Generally speaking, local and state bureaucaracies are less intrusive. In Dallas, the city government recently banned panhandling on off-ramps and service roads of the local freeways. In San Francisco, the homeless regularly defecate and urinate in public and have turned public fountains into outdoor toilets.
Give me the "fundies" over the "godless Commies" any day!
Good points! If our whole society becomes as "tolerant" of homosexuality as San Francisco is, then our whole nation will end up governed like San Francisco. In other words, more taxes, more spending, more gun control, more thought police, more government regulation, and more speech codes.