Oregon Is A Blue State

Oregon is a Blue State. That is, it votes Democratic ... 'overwhelmingly'.




Presidential Race
But when you look at the votes within the state by county, you can see that in this current Presidential election (2008), only 12 counties voted in the majority for the Democratic candidate.

That's twelve democratic counties, out of 36 counties in Oregon. (State Map with county names.)

Generally speaking, the counties that voted over 50% Democratic are among the most densely populated. They include counties with the biggest towns (Portland in Multnomah County, Eugene in Lane County, Medford in Jackson County); counties with major Universities (Portland State University in Portland, University of Oregon in Eugene, Oregon State University in Corvallis in Benton County, Southern Oregon University in Medford in Jackson County). The county with the State Capital (Salem, in Marion county).

Senatorial Race
And the counties that voted for Obama are also usually voting for the Democratic Senator.


It's not a coincidence that of the twelve counties which voted Democratic for the Presidential race, all seven of those counties which voted for the Democratic senatorial candidate (Merkley) against the incumbent Republican candidate (Smith) were among the 10 of 36 which voted for the Democratic presidential candidate, too.

Here's a rundown of the twelve Democratic counties:

• Clatsop - seaside resort and fishing, county seat Astoria. Obama 59%
  
• Columbia- Adjacent to Multnomah. Obama 59%
• Tillamook - sparsely populated seaside fishing and dairy county, home of Tillamook Cheese. Obama 54%
• Washington- Adjacent to Multnomah. Obama 63%
• Multnomah - Portland, largest city in the state. Metropolitan area extending to adjacent counties. Obama 60%
• Clackamas - Adjacent to Multnomah. Obama 60%
• Wasco - county seat The Dalles is the largest Oregon city on the Columbia River. Obama 59%
• Hood River- Adjacent to Multnomah. Obama 64%
• Lincoln - county seat Newport; located on the Central Oregon coast; fishing & tourism. Obama 59%
• Benton - county seat Corvallis home of Oregon State University. Obama 69%! (My home town~)
  
• Lane - county seat Eugene home of University of Oregon. Obama 63%
• Jackson - county seat Medford the third largest city in the state; home of Southern Oregon University. Obama 52%

The counties which voted against the incumbent Republican Senator (as of this time, with 80% of the precincts reporting, the candidates are within 1% of each other and a recount will doubtless be mandated :

• Clatsop: 49% - 45%
• Columbia: 46% - 45%
• Multnomah: 67% - 29%
• Clackamas: 49% - 46%
• Hood River: 53% - 43%
• Lincoln: 52% - 41%
• Benton: 56% - 40%
• Lane: 58% - 38%

________________________________

The point of this statistical shish-ka-bob is that the counties with the large populations (generally assumed to contain the most people who are receiving some kind of governmental largesse) and the counties with major universities (generally assumed to include the most Liberal Intelligentia, and the young newly involved students under the influence of these Liberal Scholars) are more inclined to vote for the Liberal Party Candidates.

The counties which are more remote from population centers, with rural rather than urban demographics, are more inclined to vote for the (relatively) Conservative Party Candidates.

Here, using my home state as an illustrative example, the trends are fairly obvious for anyone who has a practical understanding of the distribution of life-styles among the populations of the contribution population groups (counties).

While I'm no statistician, I find these comparisons striking. Cowboys and loggers, mechanics and merchants, tend to vote for the most conservative candidate possible. Those citizens who are more closely tied to major population centers (Lawers and Legislators, Professors and Professionals, Welfare Moms and Wastrels) tend to vote for the most liberal candidate possible.

Why?


Just my opinion, but I think it's because the Liberal voters have established a symbiotic relationship with government. They are like Remoras and sharks ... the government being the sharks. Sharks create waste, Remoras eat waste. They support big government because big government supports them. Their doormat reads: "Welcome!"


On the other hand, the Conservative voters are fiercely independent. They range from Wolverines to Shrek; they don't generally expect anyone else to support them, they live by the dint of their own efforts. All they want is to be left alone. They don't have doormats, they have mud rooms; but if they had a doormat, it would read: "Don't Tread On Me!".