What makes the West Coast so solid?

[TheDeadFlagBlues]

Urban white progressives are not very susceptible to the curse of midterm dropoff because they're unusually affluent and educated. They're also very inelastic: moderate Republican candidates can't pierce the urban core of Seattle, Portland and San Francisco. There's no easy point of comparison because the Democratic base of these cities is highly unusual. Posh urban neighborhoods routinely vote for Democrats at rates between 70 and 90 percent. The residents of these neighborhoods always vote.

I'll offer a personal anecdote: when I lived in Portland, upper middle class neighborhoods would be replete with yard signs. It was evident that highly progressive neighborhoods had very high rates of civic engagement. This pattern is the norm in Western urban centers: there's a direct correlation between stereotypical liberal beliefs and high rates of civic engagement.

2006 Gubernatorial Election, Multnomah County

Ted Kulongoski 68.4%
Ron Saxton 25.2%

2010 Gubernatorial Election, Multnomah County

John Kitzhaber 70.5%
Chris Dudley 27.4%

[TheDeadFlagBlues]

There aren't a lot of swing voters in these areas and these areas also have a lot of older, white voters who vote Democrat. In California the fact the state is so democrat also saved them. If you look at Southern California and the Central Valley, there was a massive drop off in Democratic support since it comes in large part from Hispanics and Asians. Still, the areas are just that Democratic that even with a drop off in support, the Democrats could still win. Democrats also have a fairly favorable map in California, especially for a midterm electorate. In a presidential year, the map favors Republicans.

The key is "older, white voters who vote Democrat". Old white voters in Seattle, Portland and San Francisco vote no differently from Latinos or students. If anything, old white voters are more Democratic than Asian voters in these metro areas.

God bless the Left Coast.