Have you ever lived far from Oklahoma? The political conversation isn't more intelligent in the NE -- just different.
I've lived in Colorado... I would say the political conversation was more intelligent there. It's pretty bad in Oklahoma. It all seems to be different versions of the same premise though.
These seem to be the different folks I run across:
The MAGA crowd... Hang on his every word. He is the cult leader. They think he's the best thing since sliced bread. It's gone beyond policy support to total infatuation with the man himself. Many of these folks don't even really understand the policy, they just hear things they like. BIG TRADE DEAL! NO MORE MEXICANS! A HUGE WALL! OBAMA SUCKED! etc...
The "ends justify the means" conservative crowd... People who seem to get that Trump is a jackass, but the end result is something they like. They like the GOP policies, corporate tax cuts, trade deals, stock gains, immigration policy, etc.
The "independent" crowd.... People who typically like the status quo, but just hate Trump enough to wish it was someone else in charge. They may even vote for a centrist democrat because they can't stand him, even if the country itself is doing ok.
The "center left" crowd... Not that different from the independent bunch... They don't want anything totally drastic to change. Tax structure that is a little more equitable, some social welfare net kind of stuff, increased spending on education and healthcare, etc.
The "left" crowd... These are the Bernie folks.. Medicare for everyone, Tuition free college, more publicly owned enterprises, wealth tax, etc... these people want a total restructure of society that moves the US more in line with Europe and Scandinavia. Guaranteed rights from the govt for time off, pay, hours, etc.
The "progressive" crowd... These folks are like the social justice warriors. They care about a lot of the economic stuff that the "left" crowd does, but seem to care about social issues more. Transgender bathrooms, gay rights, gender identification stuff.
