I've noticed that the West and the South, politically speaking, are extremely different.
The westerners are much more environmentally conscience, seem to lack significant interest in social issues, and tend to be much more anti-war/anti-conflict than their predecessors. When I think of a western voter, I tend to have the images in my head of:
Governor Schweitzer of Montana and family
Skiing, trendy, new-age yuppies in Aspen, Colorado who helped flip the state
Seattle's public scene, looking like something out of a Batman comic book of a night in Gotham City.
In other words, you get a feeling of very progressive trends.
On the flip side, 1980 Rural Texas isn't that far from 2011 Rural Texas. Watch "Planet Terror" or "Death Proof" from Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez and they show modern day Tennessee/Texas....and it looks like it has never changed.
Note this movie took place in 2007 rural Tennessee.
This film took place in 2007 rural Texas. Note the small-town diner, dog near the counter, smoking allowed, very laid back and not trendy at all.
I think trends are what keep the south so conservative, and if anything, Barack Obama was the most trendy of all Presidents the last 20 years.
I would agree that Obama was trendy back in 2008, though Ron Paul is now the trendy candidate. Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush had to been the trendy candidates in the 1980's. Clinton, Gore, and Dean before Obama were the trendy candidates. Mcgovern in 1972 and Eugene/Kennedy in 1968. Schweitzer family looks like your average working class family.
