In the hindsight, the old-style WASPy conservatism of elder Bush was certainly more civilized and not that bad, comparing to the gutter variety practiced by the junior and his gang.
>
> I didn't claim that NYC was representative. But central PA is rural,
> and most Americans live in metro areas.
>
Actually, it is pretty suburban (populated by Philly expatriates "escaping the city"), military (large Naval facility, boatloads of veterans), blue collar (esp. Lehigh Valley and York), and rust-belty (with the aging population of former coal miners). These are the people who brought us Rick Santorum and recently tried to oust Arlen Specter for being "too liberal" - the reactionary Toomey who run against him was only narrowly defeated. The only truly "rural" folks there are probably the Amish - whom I would NOT describe as reactionary (their xtian background notwithstanding).
> Much of NJ, which is where I get my experience of America outside
> NYC, is full of women (as are most other places), gays, blacks, and
> foreigners. There are Indians and Korans all over northern Joisey.
Northern NJ is, for all practical purposes, an extension of NYC. It is pretty diverse, I agree. But things change when you move west and south.
>
> Though SI has some black neighborhoods, it is fairly reactionary in
> the way you describe, but Brooklyn?
I was thinking Bensonhurst, Flatbush, Brighton Beach etc. - not exactly beacons of liberalism. Besides, Black population is not exactly the avant garde of progressivism and liberalism as some want to believe - it has more than a fair share of bigots, racists, reactionaries, x-tians, and political nihilists. Black are not that much different from Whites.
> ethnically diverse jurisdictions in the U.S. The country is far more
> diverse in every sense than you give it credit for. In fact, one of
> the right's great confidence tricks is to posit a "real" America -
> that of simple white folk, living in their nuclear families in small
> towns - that is actually a statistical minority. Why play along?
I could not agree more and never did I say that the country was monolithically conservative. All I was saying that the proportion of the population that is swayed by conservative ideas is much larger here than in most European countries. Specifically, I was arguing against the notion, which in my view is still firmly espoused by liberals and lefties, that the "common folk" will overwhelmingly "go progressive" (vote for left-of-the center candidates, support progressive policy initiatives, abstain from bigotry and reactionary hatred) if only given a chance.
Wojtek