Is San Diego a conservative city?

[ButterflyBlood]

I've heard from many places it is, mainly due to all the retired folks, which at the same time seems suprising since it also conjurs the image of punk rockers and surfers.

However upon looking I saw that the city actually voted for Gore by a fair margin and is represented by liberal Susan Davis, who came under fire by a bunch of American Taliban types for attending a GBLT conference which dealt with some sexually explicit material. So is only San Diego county conservative with the city itself being liberal?

[FlashHarry]

1. Isn't that Darrell "Gone in 60 Seconds" Issa's turf?

I know there's a huge Navy presence there. Maybe that accounts for it.

[ButterflyBlood]

2. I think he's from the suburbs

but that's in the county.

[Myra]

3. Yes!

Navy city.
*Very* right wing.

Of course, as Joe Conason said on Salon
(tho' I'm paraphrasing), as fast as Der Fuhrer
is alienating and outraging armed forces and
their families (or survivors)... military
types could start rejecting the GOP.

They damn well should.
Along with everyone else.

[Ellen Forradalom]

4. My ultradittomonkey ex-brother-in-common-law

settled in the San Diego suburbs and seems to be happy there--must be enough Baptist Rushbots in the neighborhood to suit him.

[wuushew]

5. I found this list of good and evil cities

http://www.cjnetworks.com/~cubsfan/geo.html

[Zorro]

6. Yes it trends towards conservativism

Republicans are in the driver's seat in most city and county elected positions; if they aren't neglecting the potholes and sewage and water main problems, they're trying to give away choice sections of the city to either the Padres or the Chargers.

The Copleys own the Union-Tribune, and you can bet they will always toe the Republican line. It's the paper that is the home of Joseph Perkins, perhaps the most rabidly partisan black Republican in the country.

The military on average tend to be more conservative than the general population, and there are tens of thousands of sailors and marines stationed around the county. And their sworn duty is to obey the C-in-C, which tends to affect their political outlook.

There are a few pockets of free-spirited communities in the area; Ocean Beach is one, as is the Hillcrest area of town; I think that the number of registered Democrats increases the closer one gets to the border. There are some noted celebrities around town that are detested by the Republicans...especially Bill Lerach, the famous/notorious class action litigator.

Nevertheless, it's a great place to live.

[jiacinto]

9. Well the 51st is a Democratic Stronghold

This is the most Democratic seat in the San Diego area. South of Los Angeles, with the exceptions of Loretta Sanchez, Joe Baca, and Susan Davis, Filner is the only Democrat in that part of the state.

[Melsky]

7. I'm from San Diego

I lived there until a year ago when my husband lost his job. Yes, it is a pretty conservative town, especially the suburbs. It does have a lot of surfer/punker types, but they are much more apolitical than you might think.

I have to confess that I wasn't too politically active when I lived there either! I got much more interested after we moved out to the desert.

[jiacinto]

8. Yes it is

On balance it is. San Diego and Orange Counties used to the backbone that propelled the GOP to statewide victories in the 1970s and in the 1980s. Due to the presence of Camp Pendleton San Diego is conservative. It used to be much more Republican than it is today. Back in the 1960s and in the 1970s it was very Republican, although that is starting to change. Indeed, in 1964, Orange and San Diego counties were the only counties in Southern California to support Goldwater.



In 1988 Bush I thrashed Dukakis there. Indeed Bush I prevailed there with a 200K vote margin out of around 750K votes cast. With Orange County giving Bush I a 300K margin the state went narrowly to the GOP



Since then the county has become more hospitable to Democrats. In 1992 Clinton actually won it. In 1998 Gray Davis actually carried the county in his landslide win over Dan Lungren. And Dianne Feinstein carried the county in 2000 over Tom Campbell.

Now, out of a million voters, Republicans only have an 80K registration advantage. It is less Republican than it was in the days of Goldwater, Nixon, and Reagan. But it is still conservative.

[neuvocat]

10. Davis is in my district.

Hell of a fighter, she is. The place used to be pretty conservative but I think that's changed with all the people moving here.

It used to be known as the world's biggest small town but the population explosion did away with that.

[pstokely]

11. San Diego is a big Military town

nt

[maveric]

12. Very conservative! More now than when I moved here in 1980.

Navy and marine dependants everywhere. A lot of military retirees too. You drive on the freeways and you'll see quite a few flags and flag bumper stickers.
I call it the land of white socks with sandals.
There arent many dems in public office but the ones that make it are usually good ones that actually do something as opposed to the lily-white repugs that sit on thier asses and do nothing but embezzle and get popped for insider trading.
Susan Davis, Bob Filner, Juan Vargas, Georger Stevens and former mayor Maureen O'Conner are all dems that actually moved this town ahead. Lieing, embezzling racists like Roger Hedgecock made us look bad.