Most Polarizing State

[Nym90]

If one ignores rural areas and focuses more on higher population centers, it is hard to top Michigan, when one compares Wayne County to Ottawa County.

San Francisco and Orange counties, California. That was easy.

True, although Orange county isn't as Republican as Ottawa county. Bush actually failed to get 60% in Orange in 2004.

San Francisco County is more liberal than Wayne though, so I'd say it's about a draw.

[adam]

I would say Washington. The state is divided into east and west so bad that there was talk of a split long ago. I know when I visit Seattle, and then go see my grnadmother in Spokane...two different worlds.

[TeePee4Prez]

Pennsylvania

I second, but another surprise- New Jersey.  You have very liberal areas near Philly and NYC, but some of the Pine Barren areas have the politics of States' Rights.  No joke, I've seen Confederate flags on the way to the shore.

Yea, but there are barely any votes at all coming from out of there.  Most of the Pine Barrens are in Burlington and Atlantic counties, and they are both solidly Democratic. 

I forgot about this discussion.

Southwestern NJ is more moderate liberal-libertarian, but not overwhelmingly Democratic.  Sure Camden County is, but Burlington and Atlantic aren't really in fact Atlantic is more Republican.  True, there aren't a lot of votes coming out of that part of NJ, but it's a lot of land that closely resembles Mississippi.  South Central NJ is a northern extension of Dixie as is South Central PA.

[Smash255]

Colorado is very diverse as well.  The Colorado Springs area is very very consevative, and you have Denver, Boulder and the ski resorts which are very very liberal

[Alcon]

I would say Washington. The state is divided into east and west so bad that there was talk of a split long ago. I know when I visit Seattle, and then go see my grnadmother in Spokane...two different worlds.

Never saw this, but Spokane voted Kerry.  We're polarised, but Bush didn't break 60% in the East, and Kerry didn't break 60% in the West.

I guess Washington has the cleanest geographic divider, at least with county maps. 

[memphis]

Forget states. I live in one of the most polarized counties in America.

[AndrewTX]

I would say Pennsylvania would win the award.  There are many states like Washington, California, and a few others that could be included as well, but Penn hasn't been a big one for either party the past few elections.

 Like James Carville once said, Philadelphia on one side, Pittsburgh on the other, and Alabama in the middle.

[merseysider]

I think Minnesota is pretty polarised - look at the 2000 Senate election where you had an ultraconservative Republican incumbent (Rod Grams) and a very liberal Democratic challenger (Mark Dayton).

Isn't California very polarised too? I've seen the maps where the liberal, multicultural areas are full of liberal Democrats (think San Francisco) but the 'Inland Empire' is overwhelmingly Republican.

[Alcon]

I think Minnesota is pretty polarised - look at the 2000 Senate election where you had an ultraconservative Republican incumbent (Rod Grams) and a very liberal Democratic challenger (Mark Dayton).

Isn't California very polarised too? I've seen the maps where the liberal, multicultural areas are full of liberal Democrats (think San Francisco) but the 'Inland Empire' is overwhelmingly Republican.

Minnesota has a rather solid level of Democratic support - if you look at a Democratic percentage map, you'll notice it's something around 40%+ in the rural areas.

California is pretty polarised, but in an uneven way.  The county map belies that there are some very conservative suburban areas.  The inland empire is pretty uniformly Republican, but not ridiculously so.

It depends how you define polarised.  Arguably, the South is the most polarised in some ways.  In many places, there will be towns that are 50/50 black/white, with one precinct casting 90% Democratic votes and one 90% Republican.

[DownWithTheLeft]

NY:

Manhattan compared to areas like Essex County and other upstate places (not necessarcily the most conservative but the city of one of the most liberal)

NJ:

N/S pretty big divide

[Alcon]

gporter,

I'm not kidding.  The liberal areas in Utah are very polarised relative to the conservative areas, and are adjacent to each other in many cases.  It depends how you interpret "polarised," as has been said.

[Stranger in a strange land]

California
Colorado
New Jersey
Arizona
Florida

[Verily]

NJ:

N/S pretty big divide

Not really. It's more like Ocean/Cape May/Sussex/Warren/Hunterdon v Hudson/Essex/Union/Mercer/Camden, which would say northwest and southeast versus central axis. (The rest of the NJ counties are fairly evenly split. Cumberland, Gloucester, Burlington and Atlantic Counties all voted for John Kerry despite being in South Jersey. In fact, Kerry won most South Jersey counties but more or less broke even in terms of counties in North Jersey.)



One divisive factor: Bush won only one county (Salem, by far the smallest NJ county by population) through which the NJ Turnpike or its northern extension along I-95 passes. (Passaic, Cumberland and Atlantic, Kerry counties, do not contain any part of the Turnpike, either.)

I originally thought he won no counties through the Turnpike passes, but I reviewed it, and apparently the Turnpike does pass through Salem County before crossing into Delaware.

Pennsylvania

I second, but another surprise- New Jersey.  You have very liberal areas near Philly and NYC, but some of the Pine Barren areas have the politics of States' Rights.  No joke, I've seen Confederate flags on the way to the shore.

Yea, but there are barely any votes at all coming from out of there.  Most of the Pine Barrens are in Burlington and Atlantic counties, and they are both solidly Democratic. 

I forgot about this discussion.

Southwestern NJ is more moderate liberal-libertarian, but not overwhelmingly Democratic.  Sure Camden County is, but Burlington and Atlantic aren't really in fact Atlantic is more Republican.  True, there aren't a lot of votes coming out of that part of NJ, but it's a lot of land that closely resembles Mississippi.  South Central NJ is a northern extension of Dixie as is South Central PA.

As I point out above, Atlantic voted for Kerry along with most of South Jersey. The myth of the conservative South Jerseyans can be put to rest. (I'm a North Jerseyan, FWIW.)

[angus]

I would say Pennsylvania would win the award.

agreed.

[Nutmeg]

Polarizing or polarized?

[they don't love you like i love you]

I found the township map of NJ rather interesting:



It appears Kerry's support was mostly in a narrow band down the middle of the state and Bush won the vast majority of areas, something I wouldn't have expected.

[DownWithTheLeft]

I found the township map of NJ rather interesting:



It appears Kerry's support was mostly in a narrow band down the middle of the state and Bush won the vast majority of areas, something I wouldn't have expected.

Damn, Bush lost Rutherford but I knew this

[they don't love you like i love you]

By about the same margin he lost the state actually.

I'd understand the NJ results more if I could figure out their census system, but I have no clue what defines a "Village", "Township", "City" or "Borough". In fact I've never even heard of the term "Borough" before except to describe the 5 different parts of NYC, although it appears to be the vast majority of places in NJ.

[Verily]

By about the same margin he lost the state actually.

I'd understand the NJ results more if I could figure out their census system, but I have no clue what defines a "Village", "Township", "City" or "Borough". In fact I've never even heard of the term "Borough" before except to describe the 5 different parts of NYC, although it appears to be the vast majority of places in NJ.

The difference is only in how the municipal government is set up, though later legislation alowed communities to use municipal systems different from the type of municipality they are. Generally, a Township is rural, a Borough is suburban, and a City is urban, though exceptions abound. There are only four Villages (Ridgefield Park [urban/suburban], Ridgewood [suburban], South Orange [urban] and Loch Arbour [suburban/rural]) statewide, and more than half of municipalities are Boroughs.

I refer you to here and other pages linked from there for a thorough discussion of NJ's convoluted municipal systems.

It appears Kerry's support was mostly in a narrow band down the middle of the state and Bush won the vast majority of areas, something I wouldn't have expected.

It's the Turnpike effect. Kerry won the New Jersey Turnpike, Bush won most everywhere else.