by Hans Eisenbeis
WHAT’S HAPPENING
- In a February 2011 survey, Gallup found that there are more conservatives than liberals in every state of the union — even in supposed bastions of liberalism like Massachusetts, New York and California (TheAtlantic.com, 29 March 2011). And for the first time on record, at least one state polls as being more than 50% conservative: Mississippi.
- Analysts at The Atlantic found that states with the highest rate of religiosity, the lowest average income and education level, and the weakest creative class also were the most conservative.
- The engines of the economy — large, urban, liberal-leaning cities that rely on education and creativity — are increasingly at odds with the political agenda of the very rich and the very poor.
WHAT THIS MEANS TO BUSINESS
- It’s a far cry from the Great Depression, the New Deal and the Great Society. Why do the poor and the less educated vote against their own best interests in the 21st century and in the wake of the Great Recession? As we’ve reported previously: Because many believe they could one day be rich.
- Of course, many Americans don’t identify as either liberal or conservative — which explains the wild swings in elections from 2006 to 2010.
RESOURCES
