top 5 conservative, liberal states

[Downwinder]

Conservative:
1. Utah
2. Mississippi
3. Alabama
4. Idaho
5. Oklahoma/Nebraska

Liberal:
1. Massachusetts
2. Rhode Island
3. New York
4. California
5. Vermont

[opebo]

It is interesting that the 'most liberal' states on everyone's lists are expensive and sought after, while the 'most conservative' are generally cheap backwaters.  Coincidence?  I think not.

[dazzleman]

It is interesting that the 'most liberal' states on everyone's lists are expensive and sought after, while the 'most conservative' are generally cheap backwaters.  Coincidence?  I think not.

There was a big article in my local paper yesterday about the "brain drain" from Connecticut - how the most talented young people are leaving because of the high cost of living and relative lack of higher level jobs for them here.

I know you're not capable of departing from your new hymnal, but my theory is that the politics of the more populated coastal states, as opposed to states with more open states, are driven by the lack of available land for development in those states.

Democratic politics is of a more redistributive nature, while Republican politics is more oriented toward expanding the overall size of the economic pie so that everyone can have a bigger piece.  In states that are highly developed, where the cost of living is high because there is little available land to build additional housing, and where any population expansion must effectively displace that which is already there, the overall atmosphere tends much more in the redistributive direction.  But in places where there is plenty of room for expansion, and the cost of living remains lower as a result, Republican policies have more credence.

[phk]

It is interesting that the 'most liberal' states on everyone's lists are expensive and sought after, while the 'most conservative' are generally cheap backwaters.  Coincidence?  I think not.

while Republican politics is more oriented toward expanding the overall size of the economic pie so that everyone can have a bigger piece.

Incorrect, Republicans are for religion and against upper education along with thier permanent hostility to scientific-progress (which is nothing new as we saw with the Catholic Church condeming scientists as heretics) and  is thus regressive for the economy.

Why do they do such a thing?

Main explanation could be, as people become more educated, thier less likely to turn to blind faith than logic and people think for themselves, so the "mind-control" aspect of religion gets automatically thrown out the window.

[A18]

Utah is not very conservative. Just religious.

[A18]

It is interesting that the 'most liberal' states on everyone's lists are expensive and sought after, while the 'most conservative' are generally cheap backwaters.  Coincidence?  I think not.

The actual Republican values that make states like California great - industry and economic expansion - are not reflected in their politics, due to the development of cities and influex of poor people.

[danwxman]

It is interesting that the 'most liberal' states on everyone's lists are expensive and sought after, while the 'most conservative' are generally cheap backwaters.  Coincidence?  I think not.

The actual Republican values that make states like California great - industry and economic expansion - are not reflected in their politics, due to the development of cities and influex of poor people.

LOL, what Republican values? It's all about cultural liberalism...Hollywood and San Francisco, probably CA's largest tourist attractions are anything but Republican.