Political Compass Scores - States!

[Hitchabrut]

This should be interesting. I would like to ask people's opinions on the political compass scores of U.S. states, and hell, why not Canadian provinces, in present days.

I would estimate the "Garden State" to be at -1 Economic, -3 Social.

[Hitchabrut]

Utah might be 6 Social, 5 Economic.
Mississippi could be 7 Social, 3 Economic.
MA: -6 S, -5 Ec.
VT: -4 S, -6 Ec.

[Blue Rectangle]

Colorado is a tough one.  On one hand, you have a strong libertarian tradition.  On the other, you have a small number of Leftist statist types and fundy Right wingers.  It all pretty much balances out.  Not too many states support both parental notification laws and medical pot.
Economically, the state is far right with strong tax and spending controls.  However, this is changing.
I'd say about 0 Social and +5 Econ (not far from me ).

[Moooooo]

Maryland

Economic:  -5
Social: -2

[Hitchabrut]

I agree about Colorado, Maryland, esp. economically is difficult.

[Cashcow]

You have New Jersey nailed down.

Michigan is harder because the East and West are so divided. I'd guess around -1 Economic, -1 Social.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Minnesota is about -4 Economic, -1 Social

[Blerpiez]

MA
E: -6
S: -6

ME
E: -1
S: -3

NH
E: 5
S: -6

RI
E: -6
S: -3

VT
E: -7
S: -5

[Hitchabrut]

NH might be more centrist socially, like -4.

[phk]

CA
E: -2
S: -4

NV
E: 3
S: -2

[7,052,770]

MS:  (7, 4) or so for whites, (1, -4) for blacks

[phk]

MS:  (7, 4) or so for whites, (1, -4) for blacks

I thought MS blacks were socially conservative?

[nclib]

MS:  (7, 4) or so for whites, (1, -4) for blacks

I thought MS blacks were socially conservative?

And I thought MS whites were more conservative socially than economically.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

MS:  (7, 4) or so for whites, (1, -4) for blacks

I thought MS blacks were socially conservative?

And I thought MS whites were more conservative socially than economically.

Depends whether the whites are suburban or rural

[Smash255]

NY 
-4,-4

[Ebowed]

Most Southern blacks, at least the ones I've been around, are opposed to gay marriage and abortion, and in general were not fond of Gore or Kerry.  They only vote Democratic because of Lyndon Johnson's legacy.

[Cashcow]

Most Southern blacks, at least the ones I've been around, are opposed to gay marriage and abortion, and in general were not fond of Gore or Kerry.  They only vote Democratic because of Lyndon Johnson's legacy.

...and maybe that whole "economics" thing.

[A18]

Virginia
Economic 3, Social 4

[Ebowed]

Most Southern blacks, at least the ones I've been around, are opposed to gay marriage and abortion, and in general were not fond of Gore or Kerry.  They only vote Democratic because of Lyndon Johnson's legacy.

...and maybe that whole "economics" thing.

Not completely.  While Democrats are in general better friends of the blacks on the economic side, many blacks support private school vouchers and funding of church-related services.  But welfare and social security are black-friendly.  I was just talking about social issues though; I have no idea how economics slipped my mind.

[Alcon]

Most states probably don't range far from -3 or 3 on any score. A state like Virginia certainly would vote more Republican if it was 3/4. Personally:

Alabama: +1.0, +5.5
Alaska: +5.5, -0.5
Arizona: +2.5, +0.5
Arkansas: -1.0, +2.5
California: -1.5, -3.0
Colorado: +2.0, -1.0
Connecticut: -0.5, -2.5
Delaware: -1.0, -2.5
Florida: +0.5, -0.5
Georgia: +2.0, +4.0
Hawaii: -0.5, -4.5
Idaho: +5.0, +6.0
Illinois: -3.0, -1.5
Iowa: -2.0, +1.0
Kansas: +0.0, +3.5
Kentucky: -1.0, +3.5
Louisiana: +1.0, +3.0
Maine: -1.0, -2.0
Maryland: -3.0, -2.5
Massachusetts: -3.5, -4.5
Michigan: -1.0, -1.0
Minnesota: -1.5, -0.5
Mississippi: +1.0, +6.0
Missouri: -0.5, +2.0
Montana: +4.0, -0.5
Nebraska: +1.0, +4.5
Nevada: +1.0, -1.0
New Hampshire: +0.5, -1.0
New Jersey: -1.5, -2.0
New Mexico: -0.5, +0.5
New York: -2.5, -2.5
North Carolina: +1.0, +3.0
North Dakota: +4.0, +3.5
Ohio: -0.5, 1.0
Oklahoma: +0.0, +5.0
Oregon: -1.0, -1.5
Pennsylvania: -1.0, +0.0
Rhode Island: -3.5, -4.0
South Carolina: +1.0, +3.5
South Dakota: +4.0, +0.5
Tennessee: -0.5, +3.0
Texas: +1.5, +4.5
Utah: +5.0, +6.5
Vermont: -3.0, -3.0
Virginia: +1.0, +1.5
Washington: -1.5, -3.0
Washington, D.C.: -8.0, -2.0
West Virginia: -6.0, +5.5
Wisconsin: -0.5, +0.0
Wyoming: +6.5, +3.0

West Virginia seems unreasonable, but I personally think they voted heavily on social issues this year, even if I think it is more economically liberal than socially conservative.

[Sam Spade]

TX:
+3 E
+5 S

LA:
0 E
+5 S

[FerrisBueller86]

Looks like I'd be a centrist in Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

If Washington DC is -8 economically, that explains why it's so heavily Democratic.

[Joe Republic]

Not to spoil the fun or anything, but it's a little hard to categorize entire states.  Maybe with ones like Utah or Nebraska, but Illinois or California?  What about a compass score for King County, WA, compared with the score for Adams County, WA?

[Alcon]

Not to spoil the fun or anything, but it's a little hard to categorize entire states.  Maybe with ones like Utah or Nebraska, but Illinois or California?  What about a compass score for King County, WA, compared with the score for Adams County, WA?

This would be the average - not median - voter. For the record, King County alone would be hard - compare Seattle (-4, -7.5) to a very rich suburb like Bellevue (-1, -5.5)...well, maybe not all that hard. But still.

The trouble many people run into is they have the following thought process:

1. Idaho votes heavily Republican.
2. The average Idaho voter is probably pro-gun and Mormon.
3. The average pro-gun and Mormon voter will be something like +6, +8.

In reality, there are plenty of liberal Democrats in Idaho - less than most places, but we have some here. It is still possible to figure out what the state would vote like.

For instance, Washington overall votes more readily for socially liberal legislation than economically liberal. Thus, one can determine it is somewhat libertarian overall.

There could very well be no places within a state that fit close to the PC score - Delaware is a prime example. However, over all, I believe it ends up like this.

[Alcon]

Looks like I'd be a centrist in Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

If Washington DC is -8 economically, that explains why it's so heavily Democratic.

Well, blacks in D.C. vote heavily Democrat, although whites do, too. Washington, D.C. is an example of an area with lots of party voters, that vote Democrat just because they like the party more, not necessarily because they strongly agree with them. Not that this is per se a bad thing - it just makes for more block voting. The same goes for the rural midwest and, heck, Utah. When in Rome, vote as the Romans do.

In reality, if Washington, D.C. voters were pressed, they would probably not be all that liberal on economic issues - but they vote that way. In any case, most D.C. blacks ignore social issues. Many are churchgoing, socially conservative. However, they'd be willing to vote for a libertarian liberal candidate because they are the liberal candidate. I count such people as mostly neutral politically, although personally they may be different.