How "progressive" is the state of Maryland? (Baltimore: house, college)

[Infinite_heights77]

For a while now, Maryland has lauded itself as being a relatively progressive state within the Union. How true are these claims in comparisons to other so called progressive states around the country? I'm looking for both, an academic and layperson's perspective. Thanks!

[andrew_s]

There are some progressive people here but id say its 60% to 70% conservative with 40 to 55% voting red consistently and the rest voting blue. Id say less then 20% are true hardcore progressives with the remaining being regular run of the mill blues. What people fail to remember is we have a strong conservative population and a good mess of blues fit well into this category. This is why we ping pong from red to blue so often.

But with times changing conservatives such as myself are increasingly ok with as well as voting for things like marriage equality and legalizing pot. But still stand for gun rights, and are against certain immigration changes (Im not against immigration just against open borders) and taxes.

To give you and idea I believe my gay neighbor should be able to marry her girlfriend the same way I married my wife and should be able to defend her bible and ganga with her ar15 and not have to worry about being taxed to death or losng jer job because an illegal alien will work for a fraction of $$ under the table.

I guess you could say maryland has a high popultion of libertarians with most of them not knowing thats what they are.

[bufflove]

Originally Posted by andrew_s

There are some progressive people here but id say its 60% to 70% conservative with 40 to 55% voting red consistently and the rest voting blue. Id say less then 20% are true hardcore progressives with the remaining being regular run of the mill blues. What people fail to remember is we have a strong conservative population and a good mess of blues fit well into this category. This is why we ping pong from red to blue so often.

Uh, what? Those percentages are way off. And I don't think it's even remotely correct to say "we ping pong from red to blue so often." You'd have to look at a specific office (Governor) over a very small timeframe (this decade) to find a sliver of support for that argument. On the whole, Maryland has been about as consistently blue as any state in the union. Just because NJ and MD currently have Republican Governors and WVA and Kentucky currently have Democratic Governors doesn't change the clear and obvious overarching political leanings of the states.

To the OP's question: I think MD is relatively progressive, but certainly lags behind states that truly pushing forward, e.g. CA. Our politicians sit back, watch what CA, NY, WA, etc. do, and then cherry-pick what they think works. "Cautiously progressive" I guess I would call it. Not progressive enough to jump in with both feet and be true trailblazers, but certainly not backwards or conservative, either.

[North Beach Person]

What you have to understand is that in many ways MD is two states and can be the poster child to illustrate the Rural/Urban divide.

The I95 corridor, which has the majority of the population (Montgomery, Prince George's and Howard Counties along with Baltimore City and Charles County by a little bit) are consistently blue. The rest of the state is majority red with a couple purple Counties (Baltimore and Cecil).

What you have to understand is that on the local level up to the Legislative offices in the rural areas many old time Democrats are the conservatives while Republicans are the liberal ones (growth control, environmental issues, various social issues). That's disappearing to an extent but still exists and does help to illustrate the Rural/Urban divide.

Remember, George Wallace won the 1972 Democratic primary for President in Maryland.

[westsideboy]

Maryland government isn't so much progressive, as it is leftist. We are the "tell you what to do, then regulate it" state, for both economic and personal freedoms.

A true "progressive," or liberal, as we called the mindset a year or two ago recognizes more individual freedoms than the Dem establishment in Maryland does.

[andrew_s]

Every democrat I know is very conservative. They just vote blue more then red. If we were as "progressive" as people think theyd have legalized pot a looong time ago....

Also every hear of gerrymandering? They completely diluted the red areas of the state and still reds stayed in office and one got the governors chair. As for the electoral college that has never accurately represented the population for any election that I have been invloved with or cared about...

[bufflove]

Originally Posted by andrew_s

Every democrat I know is very conservative. They just vote blue more then red. If we were as "progressive" as people think theyd have legalized pot a looong time ago....

Also every hear of gerrymandering? They completely diluted the red areas of the state and still reds stayed in office and one got the governors chair. As for the electoral college that has never accurately represented the population for any election that I have been invloved with or cared about...

???? State-rep districts aren't gerrymandered at all. It's not some fluke or slight of hand that causes the State Senate to have a 33/14 Dem/Rep split and the House of Delegates to have a 90 to 51. That's as direct as representation gets and the 2:1 split matches the 2:1 split found in voter registration. As for federal reps, the argument can be made that Republicans lost control of the 6th due to gerrymandering, but then again Bartlett lost by over 20 points and Republicans likely would have lost the seat anyways. At best, redistricting cost the Republicans 1 of their 2 seats, but we're still talking about a 7-1 v. 6-2 split; still overwhelmingly Democratic either way, obviously. And both Senate seats have been long-held by Democrats. And MD has voted overwhelmingly Democratic in national elections for decades now. There, I think that covers literally everything

[North Beach Person]

Originally Posted by bufflove

???? State-rep districts aren't gerrymandered at all. It's not some fluke or slight of hand that causes the State Senate to have a 33/14 Dem/Rep split and the House of Delegates to have a 90 to 51. That's as direct as representation gets and the 2:1 split matches the 2:1 split found in voter registration. As for federal reps, the argument can be made that Republicans lost control of the 6th due to gerrymandering, but then again Bartlett lost by over 20 points and Republicans likely would have lost the seat anyways. At best, redistricting cost the Republicans 1 of their 2 seats, but we're still talking about a 7-1 v. 6-2 split; still overwhelmingly Democratic either way, obviously. And both Senate seats have been long-held by Democrats. And MD has voted overwhelmingly Democratic in national elections for decades now. There, I think that covers literally everything

Oh come on. You really can't be serious. Look at the map.

Until the gerrymandering in 2000 the Congressional delegation was split 4-4. You had the Baltimore suburbs redone then to get rid of the 2 Republicans there.

In 2010 the attempt was made to get rid of the 2 remaining Republicans. One was accomplished, Bartlett, by dragging his very rural district down into Montgomery County. They tried to do the same thing to the Republican District based on the Eastern Shore but couldn't come up with a District which would pass Court inspection.

Congressional District for Ruppersberger:






Legislative Districts:

[bufflove]

Originally Posted by North Beach Person

Oh come on. You really can't be serious. Look at the map.

Until the gerrymandering in 2000 the Congressional delegation was split 4-4. You had the Baltimore suburbs redone then to get rid of the 2 Republicans there.

In 2010 the attempt was made to get rid of the 2 remaining Republicans. One was accomplished, Bartlett, by dragging his very rural district down into Montgomery County. They tried to do the same thing to the Republican District based on the Eastern Shore but couldn't come up with a District which would pass Court inspection.

Congressional District for Ruppersberger:






Legislative Districts:

...yes, I already noted the influence of redistricting in Congressional elections. As far as I can tell, you didn't refute my initial sentence (which you bolded) regarding the election of state officials.

Of course redistricting of congressional districts plays a role in a couple of elections every 10 years. You point to Bartlett losing in 2012 because of the 2010 redistricting (which I still don't agree with; Bartlett was DESTROYED, yes, in part because of redistricting, but in much larger part due to anti-incumbent sentiment and Delaney spending $$$$), well, he won the Democratically-held seat in 1992 largely thanks to the 1990 redistricting. Ditto for Morella being elected thanks to the 1990 redistricting which broke MoCo up. That's life. I'm all for impartial redistricting in MD, VA, and beyond, but I don't think it substantially alters the macro-equation of Democrats outnumbering Republicans 2:1 in the state, is all I'm saying.

[Infinite_heights77]

Interesting! That is another inquiry!!! Can one be progressive and not a leftist and vice-a-verse? Maybe that is a topic for a whole other discussion topic?! LOL1

Originally Posted by westsideboy

Maryland government isn't so much progressive, as it is leftist. We are the "tell you what to do, then regulate it" state, for both economic and personal freedoms.

A true "progressive," or liberal, as we called the mindset a year or two ago recognizes more individual freedoms than the Dem establishment in Maryland does.