Region of the country that has made the sharpest ideological 180

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Santa Cruz County, California must be up there. The opening of UC Santa Cruz in the mid 60s has transformed this traditionally Republican coastal county into one of the most hard-left areas in the country (Angela Davis is a professor at UC Santa Cruz, 'nuff said).

No, a lot of the shift happened because the Republican party went crazy hard right. The university played a role but the trend is seen all over the bay area, and really accelerated with that dumbass Bush. Acting like some sort of uneducated redneck is not going to play well in that part of the country.

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Santa Cruz County, California must be up there. The opening of UC Santa Cruz in the mid 60s has transformed this traditionally Republican coastal county into one of the most hard-left areas in the country (Angela Davis is a professor at UC Santa Cruz, 'nuff said).

No, a lot of the shift happened because the Republican party went crazy hard right. The university played a role but the trend is seen all over the bay area, and really accelerated with that dumbass Bush. Acting like some sort of uneducated redneck is not going to play well in that part of the country.

How much can Romney improve in the area? Obviously Obama still wins overwhelmingly.

I think there could be a slight trend back in a place like Scott's Valley and there certainly will be in wealthy locations around the bay area but not the bay area as a whole. Actually the bay area as a whole will likely trend towards Obama. Santa Clara county probably has no trend though. Romney could have done better but he had to act like a crazy over the last 5 years to win the nomination....

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Santa Cruz County, California must be up there. The opening of UC Santa Cruz in the mid 60s has transformed this traditionally Republican coastal county into one of the most hard-left areas in the country (Angela Davis is a professor at UC Santa Cruz, 'nuff said).

No, a lot of the shift happened because the Republican party went crazy hard right. The university played a role but the trend is seen all over the bay area, and really accelerated with that dumbass Bush. Acting like some sort of uneducated redneck is not going to play well in that part of the country.

Yes, Dubya was toxic for CA Pubs. Beyond Dubya being Dubya, Californians just don't think very highly of Texans in general, and loathe their accent and cultural style as a crude generalization. The accent thing matters. I think that is one reason why Carter did so poorly in CA, and Tunney with his Boston accent went down to Hiyakawa. You may think I'm nutter, but I really believe that.

Oh I absolutely believe you. Hey I'm seeing it in action now with the looks I get when I say I live in Tennessee.

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Oh of course Phk, like I said the university played a role. It doesn't come close to explaining the large trend to the dems in the county at large and the bay area.