The Urban-Rural Voter Gap is Growing

Downtown Dems, rural Republicans

Looks like one can add "Becoming a Democrat" to the list of vices afflicting anyone who dares leave the countryside for the temptations of city life.

Business Insider informs us of the increasing gulf in voter profiles between residents of large metros and folks in America's hinterlands. In a nutshell - which happens to be the size of certain apartments in a very blue city - urban dwellers vote Democrat, and everyone else Republican. This holds even for states that are typically well-worn GOP territory.

"Every one of Texas' major cities - Austin, Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio - voted Democratic in 2012," writes The Atlantic's Josh Kron, "the second consecutive presidential election in which they've done so."

So what explains the above? Mark Hendrickson at Forbes offers his theory, which will be a stretch of highway-length proportions for some. Citing libertarian icon and author Rose Wilder Lane of "Little House on the Prairie" fame, he echoes her belief that city life saps self-sufficiency and engenders a taste for government dependency.

"Affluent denizens of our metropolises," Hendrickson writes, "are removed from the harsher daily realities of life that confront those on the front lines of mankind's ongoing economic struggle."

Via Business Insider, The Atlantic, and Forbes.

What explains why voters in cities choose Democrats more often than their rural counterparts?

[FFX_VA]

Too much smog & exhaust fumes, that explains it.

[mimi57]

That's it, and they've been eating paint chips from those old apt. buildings...

[thejimbo]

Most major American cities are food stamp Meccas anyway... ;)

[mimi57]

@jamesmitchell Yes, the stores and drugs are so much more accessible... ( :

[RobertJHarsh]

I was going to say asbestos and too much fluoride in the water might do it.

[Zazziness]

@jamesmitchell Better check your facts. A whole lot of welfare and food stamps go to rural areas. But please, don't let facts intrude on your fantasy.

[Neo_NtheMatrix]

Mark Hendrickson hit the nail right on the head. The truth could never be any clearer.

[MRMacrum]

There is no harsher reality than to be living in some ghetto in any big city out there. Hendrickson is wrong and for that matter so are you.

[marine1]

Big cities are like the ant hill of life where the queen grows fat and here workers plunder the life out of everything around them and living off of the carnage of everyone who comes near.

[jessejaymes]

On the other hand inhaling the smell of cattle and pigs could explain why rural America is so right wing. You know, "getting close to the land"?

[MBernard]

Lol i was about to make that same joke

[LGRepublican]

Cattle and Pigs - The smell of HARD WORK.

[marine1]

If I'm not mistaken, that is the backbone of what built this country and the inherent philosophy that ones self responsibility would return great things.

[PoliticalSpice]

Cities attract people that are more left leaning. Single women, younger voters, ect. Also exposure to people of other ethnic groups, seeing the homeless in the streets has an impact in softening prejudices.

[jessejaymes]

I don't really see this whole article as being relevant for the simple reason that the rural areas of states like Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Oklahoma simply do not add up to the dominance of voters in their large cities. And yet they consistently and overwhelmingly go Red. The numbers don't add up to a simple answer of cities = blue, country = red.

[PoliticalSpice]

@jessejaymes
Good point.

[Rocker]

If you will consider it, my opinion is that the local governments allow the metropolitan areas to continue to grow within their own borders rather than spread the business around. My example would be Nashville, TN that has grown and affected surrounding counties with business/urban sprawl. Due to the collection of business in one place, outlying townspeople must be forced to travel or move for jobs. Results are traffic problems, resource consumption, and time inefficiency along with zoning problems and growth issues. All the while, the urban population dwindles. The small mom and pop family farms are going away. And one person plain fessed up that they don't see why I would work in the regular workday world and then spend the weekend working my backside off around the farm. Rural dwellers tend to be more conservative but some of us happen to be considered "the old gray haired hippies" of by-done days. LOL

[Rocker]

@Rocker - Excuse me I should have written "... all the while RURAL population dwindles".

[PoliticalSpice]

@Rocker
I see the problem as the spread of urban sprwal, as well as govt failure to address the unique roblem of agricultural economics: in a good year for crops oversupply pushes profits down, scarcity is what makes farming more proftable. They gorget the old testament biblical leson. Govt should buy and store surplus do prices do not plummet with a good harvest, and could release it to markets when drought pushes prices too high. They could also use pantries to distribute some for food stamp receipiabts.

[woodtick57]

Are all those farm subsidies bein 'self sufficient'?

[LGRepublican]

Maybe you should ask Bruce Springsteen....

[kathyparsell]

A hugh majority of thosebfarm subsities go to farmers who agree to growing Monsantos genetically modified corn ornusing a particular fertiilzer or something like that. You don't actually believe the farmers get money do you?

[marine1]

Those subsidies were designed to enhance goverment gontrol over the market and your insinuation is right on. They should be eliminated and the FREE market should reward the efforts of the farmer.

[kathyparsell]

@marine1
Exactly, give the people a fair and fighting chance. Dispite what you may hear, not all people want a hand-out, they want a level playing field.

[marine1]

@kathyparsell There is a big difference between a hand out and a hand up, too bad goverment can't/won't recognize that difference.

[Sharpshooter]

It's tough to sit on your ass collecting Government handouts in rural areas. One might have to actually leave the sofa and big screen for an entire day to sign up for more food stamps and the free obamaphone doesn't get good reception outside the major metro areas.

[jessejaymes]

On the other hand you could just wander around behind the farm animals while you get paid not to plant.

[Sharpshooter]

@jessejaymes almost clever... but you OWN the animals and need to WORK to care for them..... I do apologize for using the "W" word, in the rural environment it's considered a good thing, not something to fear.

[Sharpshooter]

@jessejaymes of course you do need to be careful walking across the pasture to not step into a steamy pile of obama.

[jessejaymes]

@Sharpshooter You have one thing right. I don't like the W word. After 57 years of working I am retired and I don't have any use for that word any longer. If that's OK with you of course.

[Zazziness]

It can't be that tough because a whole lot of people in my rural area are on food stamps. Yet another example of Republicans making up a world that doesn't exist, then making poor decisions based on a fantasy.

[DARSB]

I'm sure the thousands of homeless children in cities across the USA will be happy to learn they are not on the "front lines of mankind's ongoing economic struggle."

Here's an alternative theory. We know from other studies that as the level of education rises adherence to fundamentalist religions drops off. Is there a similar effect at play here? Do city dwellers tend to have more college than rural citizens?

[Zazziness]

I think you are right because I know for a fact that a lot of the children at risk of starvation in America are in rural areas.
http://www.spotlightonpoverty.org/RuralPovert...

[Thunderchicken]

Do city dwellers tend to have more college than rural citizens?

In my experience yes. Urban areas give more opportunities to put higher education to work. In a rural setting, most any work training is on the job training.

That being said, rural people aren’t as stupid as urban people think. However many urban people do lack the basic common sense that it takes to survive in a rural setting.(My wife’s uncle is a rancher and it took several years before his family accepted me.)

[AceLuby]

@Thunderchicken In the same regard, many rural people also lack the basic common sense it takes to survive in an urban setting.

[Cheenoguy]

@Thunderchicken
When we are speaking of rural farmers we are speaking of fairly intelligent people in general. Farming is not just planting a seed and harvesting a vegetable.
Rural towns, however, usually have an intellect deficit. At least in my experience.
My opinion, and it is nothing more then that, is that rural areas don't get much competing ideologies and thus no real debate. I think most people (and if you look at it from a worldwide scale there is evidence I'm right) lean left. Not as left as someone like me, but left. I think as people move to cities and see that their liberal neighbors and workmates are not the scary people the right portrays us as they start to listen to our ideas and see the merit in them.
Also people 40+ spent their childhood fearing Russia. Obviously us on the actual left (as opposed to Fox's definition of left) have socialist leanings in at least some respects. I was 10 when the USSR fell. I think socialist leaning I think Canada or Europe. Older people hear socialism they think communism which then turns to USSR which triggers the enemy reaction.
And lets be honest most people are sheep. They will generally go along with the crowd if only superficially. This is true of both urban and rural people.

[artjeb]

@AceLuby Does that mean learning how to live near NASTY neighbors ?

[Thunderchicken]

I see this every day. Most urban people are more interdependent whereas rural people are more independent.

[MBernard]

Whoah man. That is NOT true at all. The reverse is true. City ppl are more independent. More hardworking and more educated man.

[MRMacrum]

@MBernard and @Thunderchicken - Gimme a break both of you. Without both populations this country would wither and die. Both are dependent on each other. No one is "independent" with the exception of what they may think.

[Thunderchicken]

@MBernard

While I'll give you more educated. As for independent, maybe I should have said resourceful. When the nearest store is an hour’s drive away, one learns how to deal with things by using what is available. As for hard working, I wouldn’t want to work on a farm or ranch. My wife's family are ranchers and it’s way harder work and longer hours than anything I’ve seen living near and working in St. Louis.

[Denizen_Kate]

I don't think it's about dependent vs independent. I just think urbanites are more accustomed to, and accepting of, multiple cultures. City life is more inclusive in many ways.

[Thunderchicken]

@Denizen_Kate

HI Kate;

Yeah I corrected that later to say resourceful. Out on the ranch, they (we) often make do with whatever is around because running to any store is a ½ day trip.

I live in a used to be rural setting that is becoming a suburb of St. Louis. I get a kick out of some of the people that are my neighbors who just love “living in the country”. When the nearest McDonalds is a couple of miles away, that ain’t country living. And hey we’ve even got two stop lights now.

One thing that flabbergasts me is how little some of my neighbors know about how things work. Watering your lawn when you’re on a well isn’t a good idea. I could go on and on too. Good thing I like most of my neighbors. I've saved most of them some real headaches.

[DerivePI]

What's confusing are the people who leave the broken schools, high crime rates, high taxes and poverty of the cities for better pastures in the suburbs and yet continue to vote for the same liberal philosophies that created those problems. A lot like a Bostonian moving to New Hampshire because of lower taxes and then complaining about having to take his own garbage to the dump. I really don't think there can be an explanation.

[KyleMFb]

I don't know. I chose to be on the BIG D team bc I don't care if queers and lezys want to get married it doesn't affect me I'm able to accept facts as facts I don't read the bible that teaches love no matter what and then turn around and preach hate I don't live in a fantasy world like republicans do I don't live a lie like republicans do

[Zazziness]

Bless Rose Wilder and her family but I live in a rural area. The three major professions are state worker, meth dealer and welfare recipient. We as a far a cry from Little House On The Prairie as it gets.

[Buckfan4life2]

Why don't someone get some balls and say the truth or has everyone become so in fear of speaking the truth anymore? They are republicans in the city. They are the ones that work in those great big buildings called skyscrapers which most manage to drive miles to and from work in which they useally live in the rural areas outside of the city. Now let me think where all those votes come from in the city that the democrats always seem to get. People don't play dumb and how come this has just now became an issue since 2008? I guess just more city dwellers are voting now that we have a black preident,now don't you people think this is most likely to be the REAL reason that the democrats dominate the cities?????????? Why does everything have to be sugarcoated nowdays,I guess to keep all the liberals from consistantly screaming racism.

[Dan_Tien]

My experience makes me look at this question from a different perspective. People gravitate to rural and remote areas because they want to "get away from people", prefer a self-sufficient lifestyle, distrust government and society as a whole, tend to be politically conservative, and do not like to be told what to do. I have met men in remote areas who like to describe themselves as "outlaws" and consider poaching game animals as "just trying to make a living and feed my family". I even know a man who started his own religion and declared his land "church property" in order to avoid paying taxes. He holds meetings with some of his widely scattered neighbors in order to give some legitimacy to his claim. He hates government, the UN and city dwellers in general. He would make a perfect right wing Republican, except that he considers voting a waste of time.

[RobertJHarsh]

HA! A hillbilly who created his own religion, that's awesome. But something that does concern me is the people you describe are typically older baby boomers and the GOP is at a disadvantage with these people dying off in the next 20 years. There are two groups of people the GOP will never get (of any race), welfare trash (53% of the country) and unrich minority city dwellers. I know people personally whom drive Lexus' and BMWs and vote Democrat and have several million in the bank? I asked one why and his answer was "party of old men and f-ing Christians". I think he's onto something. That guy is part of the reason I developed my "kick out the xitians and neocons" theory. However, after watching the fiscal cliff stuff this week, I am starting to doubt what I suggest will a) be enough or b) happen in the first place. I am starting to really think if the GOP does poorly in 2014 and loses more congressional seats I can see the party collapsing. Not because I disagree with their message (minus a couple of things) but will they get welfare trash to vote for them? Never. The 47-48% who do not pay taxes? Nope. Gays? Never. Minorities? Only the rich ones. I can honestly see an anti-white backlash in the 2020s if the GOP does crash because it has always been see as the party of the white man. With the white man scheduled to be a minority in the 2040s, I really wonder the future has in store for the country. A new problem will voter turnout in the soon to be one-party state America will become in the next 20 years or so. If the Republican party is still around, they'll likely not be in any majority position, except for the states. People need to really understand that living in a one-party state sucks and that is where the US is headed.

[Cheenoguy]

@RobertJHarsh
The 47% includes many in the military and many elderly and quite a few poor Christians who vote solely based on issues like abortion and gay marriage. Those groups (all part of the 47%) all usually lean Republican. The attitude that the economic bottom half of America are lazy mooches who are to stupid to base their votes on all the information available and vote D because they want something is inaccurate and I think does as much damage to your party then any other 1 issue.
I think the Republican Party is going to borderline collapse for a few years, but they will either re-create themselves or the Libertarians will step up to replace them.

[RobertJHarsh]

@Cheenoguy I agree. If the GOP can kick these Xitians to the curb, the gays and minorities who have money and demand fiscal responsibility from Washington and hate the gimmedat cadres that back the Democrats will move the Republican side. Why would a rich gay couple who wants lower taxes BUT the opposition party says gay people are going to hell? Then they vote socialist because they are promising gay rights.

[Cheenoguy]

@RobertJHarsh
Not everyone votes for what's best for them. Wealthy liberals often vote the way they do because they believe in liberal values.
I was thinking yesterday about how those who get wealthy from entertain usually vote liberal (at least among those who are vocal about politics) while wealthy businessmen usually go the opposite way. My opinion on why that is so is that their industry recognizes that it is the populace that made them rich. Whether it is self-serving with the idea that a stronger middle class means more tickets sold or just out of appreciation for what they had. There also seems to be more in their industry then in business that came from poor families and had poor periods in the beginning of their careers. Just mho.

[Zazziness]

@RobertJHarsh This is the second time I've seen you quote an out-and-out error and it's really a HUGE mistake: 53% of our nation is not "welfare trash."

So as long as you cling to the mistaken notion that they are, all your conclusions will be in error. You don't come to good answers when you start with false data.

[sabbatical]

How about compromising and renaming the USA into ADR (American Democratic Republic) where the Dems and the Reps would be happy?

[Nat]

I disagree with this analogy of the 'sinners of big cities become democrats' therory.

The fact is this: Most of those who move to urban areas do so for higher paying jobs. That means they are most likely more educated. It has nothing to do with being tempted by 'big city ways'. What a ridiculous excuse for the fact that more educated people tend to be Democrats.

The Republicans will never get it until their party is lying in the dust. Then it will be too late for them to make up more excuses.

[TheJimmy]

Country folks don't need city folks. City folks can't say the same about country folks though.

[jessejaymes]

In the California desert you can see many strange things. This is what passes for "rural" in Cali. One guy was busted for outlining his unfenced, unmarked property line with claymore mines. Always a good idea to blow up your neighbor's cattle. Once while driving to Las Vegas we heard a boom and a puff of smoke rose in the distance a few miles off the highway. At the next stop we got gas and commented on the incident. The cashier shrugged and said "most likely a meth lab blew up. Happens all the time round here". Another old timer died, mostly of malnutrition and the hand wringing started until it was shortly found that he had almost an acre of underground bunker with more than 100 converted to fully auto with more than a million rounds of ammo. Another good idea. Starve yourself to death so you can buy illegal guns and have plenty of ammo to fight off the socialists for when the big war comes.

[UnCommonBoston]

"city life saps self-sufficiency and engenders a taste for government dependency"
Wow, that's some statement! I live in a mid-rise apt building. Living decisions are made as a group, new windows at $1K each? New elevators? Paint colors for shared spaces? The government has nothing to do with any of this, it is simply community living. Nobody is forced to live here, don't like it move. It is certainly not the cheaper option.

In the city we are forced to interact with others all the time. When I leave my apt, I see neighbors in the hallway, elevator, lobby and communal rooms (laundry). Often we stop and chat. Parking is a nightmare, of course, but again it seems to be an opportunity to meet meter readers and people who live on my block.

Homeless people are everywhere. In Boston, it is not overwhelming as in other cities, but they are here. We have the "professional beggars", the drunks and drug addicts and those who have life has been unkind to. I leave the first two groups alone; I talk to many people in the third group. They ride the subway and buses. Often the seat nobody wants is next to them.

"Spare Change" is a newspaper written and sold by the homeless. To be part of the program, they must show up for daily classes and take other steps toward responsibility and self-reliance. These people are wonderful! Ever need a smile or just simple encouragement, stop and chat.

I work out at one of the local universities and spend time there. Yes, that is a liberal leaning crowd. We talk about issues from various points of view. Many of us have lived in other parts of the country and see things differently.

That is my world, the government takes care of our subway and bus system, which I do depend on. They also take care of our roads.(Interesting side note: Belmont Mass has terrible roads. They have voted again and again NOT to fix them. There are public streets that are dirt roads. Their choice).

When I lived in the suburbs in the South, my world was very different. We certainly did not have any homeless. The children my child went to school with all lived in single family homes. I was dependent on my car and raced from place to place. I saw much less of my neighbors. I used to joke that we lived in "lala land" it was such an artificial reality. Everything neat and clean, MacMansions and soccer fields. I am not saying it wasn't a great place to raise children, it was, but it gave them an inaccurate view of the world.

I have friends who live in rural Mass. They have always lived there as have many of their neighbors.They know everyone and gossip runs deep. It is, again, a different world.

These are my experiences, this is what I know to be true. I can see how people in cities tend to be more concerned with how issues effect people, they are surrounded by people all the time. As far as dependent on the government, not where I live now.

[wilson2012]

Living in close proximity to many allows for the exchange of new ideas. Today's Politico indicates that your county is one of only three nationally that receives more money from the Feds than is collected by them (social security, food stamps, medicare etc). It is curious that despite this reality, your county voted 83% for Mitt that opposed these "gifts".

[kathyparsell]

This was a facinating article and I suggest reading it in it's entirety. I think possibly the cause is that people in large cities are prepared to pay higher taxes in order to receive the services that in most cases aren't available to many rural areas. Public transportation;including subways, garbage pick-up and recycling, police,fire & rescue being available to respond within minutes, public water. I also think the poor are more visual to city dwellers, they see them day after day. The poor who live in rural areas, where the problems are just as bad and in some cases worse, aren't seen. Also people in rural areas are far more independent in regard to having to solve their own problems and therefor expect that of others. People in cities pay those taxes to make their lives better so maybe they are more willing to expect their tax dollars be spent on helping the poor. The problem with that is that the problems of the poor can't necessarily be solved by just throwing money at them. Therein lies one fundamental problem between Republicans and Democrats...how tax dollars are spent.