Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is but it also isn't. Don't forget the megachurch people and the people who live in the suburbs or exurbs and who are afraid to come into the city.

Huh? Why are you equating fear of going into the city with being conservative? That makes no sense.

Also, where are there actual megachurches in MoCo? WaPo did a list of the largest churches in the DC area in 2014 and no MoCo churches made the list.

Conservatives are more fearful overall.

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/mind-in-the-machine/201612/fear-and-anxiety-drive-conservatives-political-attitudes

Better educated than other suburbs.

It's because there are a ton of well-educated people who aren't in finance. It's like NYC without the moderating effect of Wall Street "socially liberal/fiscally conservative" types.

Probably because of the large number of govt. workers. Fairfax County used to be pretty conservative, but as the govt. grew, so did the number of left leaning people who reside in Fairfax.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is but it also isn't. Don't forget the megachurch people and the people who live in the suburbs or exurbs and who are afraid to come into the city.

+ 1 plenty of conservatives here, too

Well, MoCo went 75-20 for Clinton in 2016, so "plenty" might be stretching it. Unless you're also talking about traditional conservatives who voted for Clinton -- there are likely some of those.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
What's leftist to you is centrist to me, OP. I'm from Europe, where most countries have decent parental leave, subsidized daycares and health care systems that don't fleece patients and the nation. The US Democratic Party is centrist compared to the multiple Left-wing parties in Europe.

On economic issues, yes. But European Labour parties are actually quite conservative compared to US Democrats on some issues, especially immigration.

I feel like Maryland, esp Montgomery County is more politically comparable to Bay Area CA than generic American suburbs.

Yes, Maryland is considered to be one of the most "liberal leaning" states in the US similar to the Bay Area in CA.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
What's leftist to you is centrist to me, OP. I'm from Europe, where most countries have decent parental leave, subsidized daycares and health care systems that don't fleece patients and the nation. The US Democratic Party is centrist compared to the multiple Left-wing parties in Europe.

On economic issues, yes. But European Labour parties are actually quite conservative compared to US Democrats on some issues, especially immigration.

I feel like Maryland, esp Montgomery County is more politically comparable to Bay Area CA than generic American suburbs.

You're both right and wrong. Europe is an incredibly crowded place compared to the USA and already has significant unemployment without taking in migrants. So while it should and does take in some migrants from a purely humanitarian perspective, the situation understandably creates friction.

The USA is completely different: there is a critical lack of low-skilled workers in many industrial sectors, and those were traditionally filled by Central and South Americans, many of which weren't here legally. The country is very large, has a lot of space, so from an economic perspective, it makes sense to allow regulated migration of unskilled people.

Baltimore City has been a big labor union town
for over 150 years. I think Baltimore City and Baltimore
County's link to labor unions has driven the link
to liberalism for decades.

In Maryland you typically have to go to a rural county on
the eastern shore or in the west to find a conservative.

Anonymous wrote:It is but it also isn't. Don't forget the megachurch people and the people who live in the suburbs or exurbs and who are afraid to come into the city.

Huh? Why are you equating fear of going into the city with being conservative? That makes no sense.

Also, where are there actual megachurches in MoCo? WaPo did a list of the largest churches in the DC area in 2014 and no MoCo churches made the list.

Anonymous wrote:It is but it also isn't. Don't forget the megachurch people and the people who live in the suburbs or exurbs and who are afraid to come into the city.

+ 1 plenty of conservatives here, too

It is but it also isn't. Don't forget the megachurch people and the people who live in the suburbs or exurbs and who are afraid to come into the city.

Anonymous wrote:
What's leftist to you is centrist to me, OP. I'm from Europe, where most countries have decent parental leave, subsidized daycares and health care systems that don't fleece patients and the nation. The US Democratic Party is centrist compared to the multiple Left-wing parties in Europe.

On economic issues, yes. But European Labour parties are actually quite conservative compared to US Democrats on some issues, especially immigration.

I feel like Maryland, esp Montgomery County is more politically comparable to Bay Area CA than generic American suburbs.

What's leftist to you is centrist to me, OP. I'm from Europe, where most countries have decent parental leave, subsidized daycares and health care systems that don't fleece patients and the nation. The US Democratic Party is centrist compared to the multiple Left-wing parties in Europe.

Good question. Proximity to DC, I guess? I'm a bleeding heart liberal in MoCo and love it here, but some of my conservative neighbors can't stop ranting about it.

Traditionally, national elections were about "the battle for the suburbs"... the middle ground voter between the urban liberals and the rural conservatives. You hear about the proverbial suburban moderate, small business owners who would like a tax cuts, suburban soccer moms who care about gun control, that sort of thing. At least that's what the mainstream media or a lot of political conventions like to portray.

Why then is suburban Maryland (specifically the DC metro, white people in Baltimore County less so) extremely leftist? Not just Democratic, but far left Democratic? I guess Arlington and Alexandria VA are sort of like that, but not Fairfax or Loudoun. But places like Bethesda seem to be full of California-type farmers market-shopping, NPR listening, Prius driving liberals, and Silver Spring, Takoma Park, Hyattsville, College Park downright socialist. There were a bunch of socialists that won Maryland state and local elections too.

Why is suburban Maryland politically more like urban DC rather than other suburbs of metropolitan areas, like Orange County or like suburban Chicago, Philly, or Houston?