Iowa's population is 61% urban. Does this surprise you?

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

No (Has actually been to Iowa and understands what the state is actually like and doesn't assume based on stereotypes)

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

If you can't understand why Iowa has such a high proportion of white liberal voters, then you probably are thinking of "white liberals" as exclusively as like the stereotypical resident of San Francisco or like hippie organic farmers. If you interviewed a bunch of people in Des Moines, Cedar Rapids or Davenport about gay marriage, tax rates, health care, the environment and marijuana, and then a bunch of people somewhere like southeast Minneapolis/southwest St. Paul or Madison, WI, you'd find that the views expressed would be pretty similar. The Iowa cities might have more conservatives in general, but the median voter is going to be someone with generally liberal views on all those issues.

(I didn't mention Iowa City because that's actually closer to San Francisco or west central Minneapolis.)