Friday, August 12, 2005


Well, in case you had any doubts about it, Springfield is a conservative city. In fact, it ranks as the 59th most conservative city in the U.S. with a population over 100,000. This according to the Bay Area Center for Voting Research. Peoria comes in at 97, Rockford and Joliet at 114 and 115 respectively, and Aurora at 125. Naperville is the most conservative Illinois city with a ranking of 45 nationally.

The most liberal city in Illinois? Chicago, coming in at number 17 nationally. Other liberal Illinois cities include Aurora at 116, Joliet at 123 and Rockford at 124. So somehow Aurora, Rockford and Joliet are both liberal and conservative...or something.

A hat tip to Kevin Drum for the pointer to this silliness.


JeromeProphet said...

If this study is pulling data off of the registered voter list, along with the Primaries voting histories, which I suspect they must be, it would be an incomplete assessment without adding that much of that data is somewhat misleading - or at least incomplete.

I offer one example to illustrate my point. Everyone in my childhood family assumed that one of our most beloved neighbors was a committed Republican.

He played the role of the well connected Republican quite convincingly. Plastering his car with every Republican bumper sticker, putting Republican candidate signs in his yard each election. Never speaking ill of any Republican candidate. He'd get the usual perks of free Illinois State Fair tickets every summer, the occasional State Staff car to take home, state jobs for his children - ahh the good old days.

I visited him recently, an older man past ninety years of age, still sharp as arrow. While speaking to me, he leaned over to me, in a hushed tone, and he confessed that he is, and always was an F.D.R. Democrat. He told me he had to keep up the appearance of being a Republican to keep his patronage position.

He kept up this pretense for three decades!

So while he would vote in each Republican primary, and generally appeared, and spoke like a Republican he would always vote Democrat in the general elections.

He is a very well educated man, with a Ph.D., and had a fairly high position in Illinois' State government.

Sadly, I've talked with many folk over the years who have had the same type of confession to make. Poor souls! Once you get them started the contempt for the Republican party, and their politics comes flying out of them louder than any Democrat would tend to put forth. All that bottled up anger can't be good for anyone.

One Democratic governor in a generation couldn't possibly reverse the Janus character of Springfield's all too captive workforce, and voters.

Amy Allen said...

Are the cities on the "liberal" and "conservative" list the same, but only in a different order(which may or may not be the reverse, because there may be some currents of moderation), or is that not necessarily the case? I know Peoria appeared on both lists. Also, if they had a subcategory of metropolises(e.g. populations over a million), Chicago would, of course, be ranked higher on the "liberal" list.