We have lived in one of the most conservative areas of Iowa for over 35 years.. work related..But when my husband finally retires.. I have put my foot down.. I want to move to an area where I can go to a coffee shop and not have to listen to prattle from the far right. I would dearly love to live in an area where it was a much better mix. Having all of one thought process around a person is draining, unless you buy into that 100%.. and I buy into NOTHING 100% when it comes to politics. But yikes on the Steve King mind set, the tea party mind set.. I have never seen such a brainwashed group of people. I would say it is scary..but truthfully it is sad..

Upper Fairfield County (CT) and Litchfield are not that much better.

Its a headache when you have to live with it..that is for sure

Link to questions determining conservative or liberal for this Pew poll.

Conservatives are really bad, aren't they?

http://www.people-press.org/2014/06/12/appendix-a-the-ideological-consistency-scale/pp-2014-06-12-polarization-a1-01/

Not only are they completely wrong; they are hateful and mean-spirited. They HATE people like me. As an atheist, I am not a "real" American. Any expression of progressive values in the newpaper (say a letter to the editor) will get you threatened and harrassed in the redder parts of this country. Who wants to live like that? I certainly don't. It's not just that I feel uncomfortable expressing my opinions; I feel it is even dangerous to do so as a liberal. Right-wingers have nothing to fear from liberals because we don't act that way. We may question their facts (which they DO see, incorrectly, as a threat), but we do not generally threaten harm. We may walk away in frustration, but that's usually about it.

They are ignorant and PROUD of it. It's like arguing with a tree, utterly pointless.

Actually much of the blame probably goes to Fox News and Rush Limbaugh. Most of the hatefulness orinates there.

I have always been of a liberal mindset. But starting 30 to 40 years ago, the right wing started demonizing people who had beliefs similar to mine. One of the hallmarks of liberal thinking, for me, was keeping an open mind to others ideas and beliefs. But that has become harder and harder as over the years my political thoughts and the people who I supported were cast as evil. Being attacked like that tends to harden you against the opposition.

with a sneer in their voice and a curl of their lip.

They systematically and quite deliberately set about demonizing liberals and making everything about the liberal philosophy and mindset equal BAD. And now we're all reaping the whirlwind of that. The problem they caused, bluestateboomer, did not JUST go to people you supported. It was YOU, too. This was deliberate and calculated. Intentional, calculated, and carefully and strategically PLANNED.

I saw my best friend do exactly that. She was complaining about a school her kid went to and why that school was apparently (to her) the reason why her kid was now rather independent-minded and more than a little insolent. She almost literally SPAT out "liberal" in with a string of adjectives she used to deride and condemn that school. I had to step in and point out the reality of this - and try to remind her yet again of what "liberal" has actually done to HELP HER PERSONALLY and make her life easier, make her insurance more affordable, make her 23-year-old eligible for coverage under HER plan (which wasn't the case before), and many other things. MANY other things. And she capitulated a little. But I stood there in shock to see her do that. Stare off into space and run off this string of adjectives including "liberal" and just almost literally spit out the word with severely curled lip and the sourest facial expression I've EVER heard. I've also heard the word "baby-killers!" come out of her, and had to remind her - "honey, I'm pro-choice and I NEVER KILLED A BABY IN MY LIFE!!!!!"

Next time she spits out the word liberal, I intend to remind her that "I am a liberal and when you do that, just remember you are spitting at ME. That's ME you're spitting at, you know."

I am at a point that I am making a list of places that I want to move.

I am tired of listening to this crap incessantly. It is mind bogging at how deep the ignorance runs.

I am in Texas and have already made the decision if the state falls to the Teabillies in 2014, I am out of here.

Not sure where but narrowing that down at the moment.

happening right here in our own country and there is no outrage?

I have no doubt this what is going on but if you remember our genetics have a tendency to pull us together eventually. The only question is how stupid will it get before that happens.

After i read this line in the article 'Those differences in visibility are partly due to the Democratic hold on the White House, according to Pew Research Center Vice President Michael Dimock' i had an idea who the real publisher of the article was

Once you get past whatever kind of thinking is going on you will see they are not any more different than anybody else

It's interesting that conservatives and liberals are becoming more polarized while at the same time the number of registered Republicans and Democrats are on the decline.

I have lost friends, I tiptoe around certain family members and not talk politics. I heard a lady tell me today she also tiptoes around her right wing Dad and they once stopped talking for 6 months because she voted for Obama. We all have friends and acquaintances you no longer feel comfortable with them because of stupid political differences.. Our country is infected by a virus of hate and needs the healing of love. I don't know what will break the fever. But can it happen in 2015?