Quote:
Originally Posted by megawatty101
Anyone here from California? I'm surprised that this stuff passes.
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Unless you live here, people don't really understand how wacky California can be politically. For example, most people see California as a die-hard "blue state" and being ultra liberal...but don't realize that up until Clinton it voted Republican continually in all Presidential elections. It went for Obama heavily in this last election, but when it was Bush versus Kerry, for example, Kerry actually struggled here. And don't forget the long line of Republican governors we've had out here...from Ronald Reagan, Pete Wilson, and now Arnold.
The state basically breaks down this way...
The north, where you have San Francisco -- very liberal.
The south, where you have San Diego -- very conservative.
So those two offset.
In the middle, you have Los Angeles -- which leans Left, but is actually moderate in terms of other voting initiatives.
So it
usually goes Left, but it
could go Right depending on the issue.
So that's north, middle, south -- going top to bottom.
Then, going side to side...
The coastline is Left leaning, so think of those Democratic Malibu/Hollywood voters...but then as you move inland, it starts to shift to the hot housewives of Orange county and their business-minded hubbies, so it starts to turn moderate...and then as you head even more inland and towards the Nevada border, things become very Right leaning and Republican again.
So, when you ask how could something like Prop 8 pass, it really is because California is a mixed bag that often votes emotionally and spur of the moment, depending on the issue or person. Heck, I even know gay couples that voted FOR Prop 8 -- that's right, they voting AGAINST gay marriage themselves -- simply because the issue was so emotionally charged relative to "what" gay marriage was ultimately going to mean in the state. For example, could a gay couple now sue a church for discrimination if the church said it didn't want to perform the ceremony, etc.
Frankly, same-sex marriage advocates in California -- despite having things like the Hollywood community behind them, which should have given the issue plenty of air time and "friendly faces" that people could have gotten behind -- have continually done a TERRIBLE job of selling same-sex marriage out here. So it was no big shock to me that Prop 8 actually passed the way that it did...