In 2016,
Clinton carried the city of Milwaukee: 188,687:45,422 (81%:19%, of two way vote)
She carried the remainder of the county: 100,134:80,676 (55%:45%)
Trump carried Waukesha County: 79,224:142,543 (36%:64%), Ozaukee (40%:60%), and Washington (29%:71%).
So it is simply a pattern of the city of Milwaukee being extremely leftwing, and the remainder of the county moderating that somewhat (the city had about 56% of the county vote).
Were Milwaukee more centrally located, rather than on the shoreline the metropolitan area would not be as bipolar.
But there are plenty of cities on a shoreline. Is Miami as polarized? Is San Diego? Is Boston?
Suburban Milwaukee has people who apparently accept the minority areas as a zoo with a non-human population and go along with politicians who would just as soon that such people disappear. For them, an extremist like Scott Walker is wonderful. He does not compromise. If he gets 51% of the vote he has a mandate to treat minorities and liberal-leaning white people badly.
Donald Trump is like that. Scott Walker could well be the wave of the future in the America.
