Is this entire state a conservative state?

[Blue_Roses]

I moved here a year ago from Texas of all places, and I thought it was conservative there. Geeze...the little town I live in is so conservative it's making me anxious. Is there any Democrats in this state?

[POed_Ex_Repub]

1. I'm guessing there's at least a few..

Wasn't there a Gov. from that state that eventually became president... hmm... what was his name? ;-)

[Blue_Roses]

8. I wish he was still here

:)

[amber dog democrat]

2. probably not any Dems in your state

'cepting you, but what state are you in?

Is it ..... Mississippi? Iowa?, South Carolina ? Georgia?

So..... you thought things would be better OUT side of Texas? My guess is the Chimp wants to make Texas reflected in the entire country... ye haw ? I am fighting the good subursive fight here in teh lone star state. Good luck to you whereever you may be.

[Blue_Roses]

5. arkansas

I'm in arkansas

[Hog lover]

3. Little Rock tends to vote Democratic

I think small towns in the South tend to vote "conservative" because they ignorantly think they agree with Repuke ideas -- bet your town is mostly white, uneducated, racially bigoted, fundamentalist "Christian" and homophobic. That's my analysis of why so many people who would benefit from Democratic principles vote against their own economic interests - they are morons.

[Blue_Roses]

6. yep--

you nailed it...all of the above:)

[newyawker99]

9. Hi Hog lover!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[Hog lover]

17. Thanks!

[democratreformed]

4. So, did you move to NW Arkansas?

That's the most conservative part of the state. However, here in White County, it's pretty conservative as well (Harding, you know). We do have a Democratic club. All the leadership is fairly old. But, we get things done.

I've missed the last three meetings though. One of my husband's brothers died just before the May meeting, then a second one right before the June meeting. Then, for our meeting last week, I was out of town working.

[Blue_Roses]

7. faulkner

I live in faulkner county--for now that is:)

I feel like I'm living in a scene from the movie, "Footloose."

[anelson]

10. Don't feel badly...

I was born in LR, graduated from UALR with both a BA and Master's degree, and left the state in 1994 after I couldn't get a job paying more than 20K/yr. My mom and family all live there still, and it breaks my heart to fly into Little Rock Regional these days.

The poverty I witness as I drive from east to west down Roosevelt is just shocking and unforgivable. It always breaks my heart. Poor blacks and poor whites at each others' throats fighting for scraps, while the people in West Little Rock are laughing all the way to the bank. It just breaks my heart to come home.

Granted that I live in chicagoland these days, but it just seems that AR is more segregated and static than I can remember. So many failed businesses east of University Ave. The Cinema 150...closed. West Little Rock swells, and Southwest LR rots. Churches on every corner, and F-ing republicans running our state into the ground (Huckabee). What is wrong with our home state? It just breaks my heart to come home these days...

[sinkingfeeling]

11. Don't believe NW Arkansas is all conservative! I live in

Fayetteville and we're constantly critized for being 'tree-hugging, late-drinking, liberals'. Benton county, world head quarters of Wally World, is where the Repubs live in this part of the state.

[Phil214]

12. Fayetteville, et al

I've never been to to NW Ark., so some of you Arkansans either confirm or disconfirm my impressions as you see fit.

On the whole, yes, Arkansas is a conservative state. HOWEVER, there are still a few liberal pockets there. The CITY of Fayetteville, the location of the U of Ark, seems something of a liberal haven for the area. Several years ago, the city did have a Human Dignity ordinance, though I don't know if it's still on the books. I understand Springdale and Bentonville (Wal-Mart's corporate home) is another story.

Also, 30 or so minutes from Fayetteville is Eureka Springs - the Gay Center of the Ozarks (the town's site advertizes itself as "Where the Misfits Fit", go figure!). It also seems to have the highest per capita gay population in the state, and generally seems a haven for the area's eccentrics.

Plus, there's Hendrix College in Conway -- 30 miles from Little Rock. One of my Republican Arkansas friends said it's scoffed at as the place "Where the Girls are Girls, and The Guys Are Too". Also, I think Hendrix has an Anti-Greek Week to celebrate the fact that it has no Fraternities and Sororities.

Well, these are my impressions as an outsider. Does anybody have anything else to add to this post (or take away from, whatever the case may be)?

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

13. 3/4 of the Congressional delegation is Democrat

with only the Third District being Republican (that's NW Arkansas). There are pockets of liberals in NW AR besides those you listed, namely Newton County, where a lot of environmentalists/organic farmers/ex-hippies/Sufis live. The county Democratic Committee is a joke-they won't support anyone-heard them talk, and they sound like Republicans! There's an active Democratic Committee in Boone County to the north.

[BamaLefty]

14. Wait one second...

Didn't I hear some of you say that AR could possibly go for Kerry?

http://www.electoral-vote.com

[Razorback_Democrat]

22. There were some polls right before the election that showed that

but apparently other polls contradicted it

and the final results showed it going Red

[leetrisck]

16. Newton County - most beautiful

place anywhere around - only 8500 people in the entire county - gorgeous but not a place to make a living - Clinton mentions Newton Co in his book -one of his favorite places in AR - met him there a few years ago.

[Razorback_Democrat]

23. Yes, you tree huggers in Fayetteville give me hope!

That someday we will have some tree hugging down in Fort Smith!

[southernlad]

15. Move to Little Rock

Little Rock is a great place to live. A nice mix of conservatives and liberals. The rest of the state pretty much go one way or the other. Little Rock is right in the middle.

[sitar]

18. REGISTRATION.........

I registered to vote in Arkansas by mailing my form on the next to last business day allowed. I called to make sure it had been postmarked in time to allow me to vote.
Clerk said it had been stamped by county clerks office as postmarked on the 13th... they dont save the envolopes. I had mailed it on the 2nd. Since when does it take 12 days for a letter to get postmarked?

[newyawker99]

19. Hi sitar!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[Razorback_Democrat]

24. I hope you got to vote!

[R3dD0g]

20. It's not so much a conservative state.

We reelected Clinton, Bumpers & Pryor many times. All of their opponents challenged on the basis of their being too liberal for the conservative values of Arkansas. Still, they were reelected by comfortable margins, sometimes w/o meaningful opposition.

But, there are a lot of very religious folk who attend church every time the doors open. That doesn't mean they vote their religion. I worked with a strong Southern Baptist who voted Communist every time they had a line on the ballot. He said it was to hear his preacher rail that Commies were infiltrating Benton. But, I wonder ...

Big Dog will be back tomorrow (Sunday, Oct 31) and there have been hints that Big John might show up. That could energize a lot of voters in the more liberal central state. The boonies outside of the delta will go for *. Northwest and Jonesboro are solid *. But, I'm hopeful we could carry the state.

[Razorback_Democrat]

21. Hell Yeah there's dems in the state!

2 US Senators=Dems
3 of 4 US congress=Dems
State Leg=Dem controlled
Atty General=Dem

Little Rock is probably most Dem #'s
Fayetteville has Dems
Southeast has Dems
The rest is purple to extremely red
I live in Fort Smith and it is purple, but Sebastian County is redder than Ft. Smith.

NW is the reddest part of the state

[Phil214]

25. Southeast has Dems??

If there are Dems in SE Arkansas, they do a darn good job of hiding it!!!

I grew up just across the state line from there in NE Louisiana. All the people I know from SE Ark are just as Repub as in NE La.!! Trust me when I say that S. Ark + N. La. = Mississippi West!

[aaronbees]

26. i'm in southwest ark...

and I'd say it's fairly purple, leaning repub. nationally and leaning conservative dem. locally (from what I've seen in my three years here). Mike Ross, a Blue Dog Dem., ran unopposed this past election cycle and I get a sense he's real popular. Though his politics don't run parallel with mine as far as Dem. ideals, I'd say he's pretty thoughtful compared to some other Arkansas reps.

[Phil214]

27. SW Ark too???? WHAT THE......!!!!!!

What's in the water you drink north of the state line??????
Or perhaps, what's in NORTH LA's water???

God!!! If what you say is true, then compared to North Louisiana, Arkansas is freaking California. Once you cross the state line, they (well, the whites anyway) vote straight Republican ticket -- almost literally as often as African Americans will vote Democrat! They don't care about the candidates qualifications south of you. All they care about is they don't want a Democrat Representing them in Congress. Yes, NE La had Rodney Alexander, a Democrat for 1 term -- until he did his party switch. Even then, THE only reason he got elected in the first place by the slimmest of margins (about 1%) was because of the retiring Republican (John Cooksey's) shockingly racist "Diaper" remark just after 9/11.

[holboz]

28. I feel your pain...

I live in the NW corner of the state in uber-religious Bentonville. I think my husband and I are the only people on our street who are home Sunday mornings. I moved here after growing up in Little Rock, going to university in St. Louis, and living in London and Los Angeles. CULTURE SHOCK.

Bless, my husband is English and he's just absolutely gobsmacked by how in-your-face people are with religion. He's worked for three different companies and every place he's worked people won't stop trying to talk about church, the Bible, invite him to prayer, etc. He's quit 2 jobs because of the intensity of his co-workers faith. He's ready to move back to England!

We are a bit concerned about our daughter growing up in a place where everyone treats their church membership as a country club affiliation. Seriously, people around here make such a massive deal about going to church and which church they go to, I worry about my daughter being chastized for not going to a church. But I do not agree with the corporate-esque Mega Church that's engulfed the landscape, with specialized Kids Clubs filled with video games and ball pits used as lures to get them to Sunday school, or stadium seating with state of the art sound systems and slick digital presentations. If I remember correctly, didn't Jesus get ticked off with extravagence in churches during his day?

I remember talking to this one kid who told me a story about one Sunday at his church: "There's this kid who goes to my church and nobody likes him because he's a fag, and one day after Sunday school I kicked a football and it hit him in the head. He passed out and everybody laughed..."

WHHAAAAAAA???????

Um, hello? Is this compassionate conservatism or the values that were overwhelmingly voted for on November 3rd?

Sorry to ramble. This is a hot button issue for me since I was raised a Southern Baptist and left the church at age 16 because those people made NO sense to me.

[bburton11]

29. ah the memories......eek

I am originally from Arkansas, Benton right outside of Little Rock. Left in 1994 when hubby joined Army and have never looked back. Both of our families still live there and we go back about once a year to visit and it is painful lol. I live in Tennessee now, and thankfully the town isn't as anal retentive as the one I was raised in. My mom thinks that going to church (pentecostal) will fix any problem, and any problem I am having with my 14 y/o daughter will be fixed if I have her in church every time the door opens. So I fully understand.

[Phil214]

30. There's always Fayetteville...

..if I read the voting data right (more opposition to the same-sex marriage ban amendment than any place in the state, or close to it. Far and away the most liberal place in the state from what I hear, and the voting stats back it up). Now I understand Bentonville is another story though, but at least you're only 30 minutes tops from F'ville. I'm sure there's SOMETHING for you two to find down there

[Enquiringkitty]

32. Try being a Buddhist in Arkansas. My son really got it bad in school.

We are not from another country nor are we of a different ethnic group. We are white and chose Buddhism. He has been called many offensive names. The people here are very afraid of anything different and tend to get aggitated and even violent during discussions. Everyone I have spoken to here about politics were Repugs even though they see themselves losing wages, jobs, health insurance, social security, future medicare and live a life barely making ends meet. It confuses me! One man told me he voted for Bush because Bush was a "good-ole-boy" just like him and Kerry was an intellectual and they can't be trusted. How stupid!!!

[elperromagico]

31. Little Rock, the most urban and populous city, is Democratic.

You see that pattern in most large cities in every state. There are pockets of liberalism elsewhere.

But we're odd in that, although we elect Democrats to the legislature by large majorities, elect Democrats to most state offices by large margins, elect Democrats to the Senate by comfortable margins, and have a majority Dem delegation in the House, the state votes for Bush.

But it's important to remember that a Democrat holding office in Arkansas is not likely to be as liberal as a Democrat holding office in Massachusetts. He or she is also not likely to be as conservative as a Democrat holding office in Nebraska.

On the national plane, I'd classify Arkansas as a moderate state with a slight rightward lean. But compared to much of the rest of the former Confederacy, it's moderate with a leftward lean.

Confuzzled you yet? :P