In my Seattle constituency, there have been precisely zero votes solid for former President Donald Trump within the 2020 election. There would have been two votes for the man within the White Home if a few my laid-back pals over the hill hadn’t moved to Montana a 12 months earlier than as a result of they have been bored with residing in political isolation.
In that sentiment, the conservative couple shouldn’t be distinctive amongst right-leaning folks on this metropolis and state. My colleague, Danny Westneat, lately took a have a look at Idaho’s migration statistics and located that Republicans far outnumber Democrats amongst latest transplants from Washington. This imbalance is so dramatic that it’s troublesome to clarify in every other approach than to acknowledge politics as a driving power behind a whole bunch of displacements. The truth is, Westneat discovered that there are actual property firms in Idaho that particularly market to conservatives, urging them to flee the liberal “hellhole” of Washington and transfer to a spot that celebrates God, weapons and small authorities.
This phenomenon shouldn’t be distinctive to Washington and Idaho. Everywhere in the nation, individuals are pulling up stakes and getting out of Dodge as a result of they do not like residing in a spot the place their neighbors do not share their political opinions. And it isn’t simply conservatives who’re leaving blue states — there are additionally indicators that liberals are fleeing purple states to seek out extra sympathetic, progressive communities.
This sorting has been happening at some stage ever since our political life started to grow to be so ugly, illiberal and polarized. It seems that bodily separation is now accelerating. Cities and close by suburbs are more and more liberal, whereas suburbs and small cities are extra right-wing than ever. And People overlook find out how to discuss to one another until everybody within the room — or the neighborhood or the faculty campus — sees issues precisely the identical approach.
There was an outdated, conservative gentleman who lived proper across the block from me. He would drive by my home every so often in his huge pickup truck, and if I occurred to be exterior he would argue over my political cartoons. The person had a humorousness about it although, and after I did not react with anger however with fun and a smile, we all the time parted amicably. We weren’t precisely pals, however we acquired alongside, and we definitely weren’t enemies.
The outdated man died a number of years in the past, and I sort of miss him—identical to I miss the times when American politics was a debate amongst pals, not Armageddon.
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