>i'm a new yorker who's lived on the west coast for the past twenty five
>years, and find both coasts have people who think they are the center
>of liberal-progressive politics, enlightened, civil, rational thought,
>while the rest of the nation has its head stuck up its collective ass...
>only partly true, though i once believed it..
Your gift for caricature aside, the immediate issue was measurable opinion on things like war. Here's an April 2003 poll of registered voters from the Marist Institute <http://www.maristpoll.marist.edu/nyspolls/030404iq.htm>:
Do you approve or disapprove of how President George Bush is handling the war in Iraq?
Approve Disapprove Unsure total 66% 30% 4%
Upstate 76% 21% 3%
New York City 50% 45% 5%
Suburbs 71% 27% 2%
Looking over comparable Gallup polls from the same time, the national averages were over 70% approval.
Doug