From my own personal biased sample I seem to find a direct correlation between people’s political affiliation and if they’ve lived anywhere else (within 40 miles) of where they were raised.
Friends, family, and even people from high school (who I’ve seen on facebook) who still live in the same general area as where they were raised seem to be very Republican.
Other friends I have who have lived their adult lives in various cities and states (even countries) seem to be the ones who come out being Democrats.
Maybe I’m way off base here and thus the reason for a poll.
The Democrats are too right-wing for me to wholeheartedly support them, and I’ve lived in three different countries – I first migrated from one country to another at the age of two.
My gut reaction would be to agree with your premise. As for liberal me, however, having been born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, and having had the opportunity to visit quite a few different countries and cultures, I currently live about 12 miles away from where I was born, and haven’t lived more than 35 miles away from there except for college. If the bay area weren’t generally liberal-friendly I probably would have moved away at some point.
Other:
I have lived within 40 miles of where I was raised (not my birthplace, but where I spent most of my formative years), and I consider myself an independent.
Though I have been leaning Democratic, and I’m sure many republicans would label my views Liberal (Liberals may call me libertarian or liberal as well).
So I guess I’m considered Liberal, but label myself Independent/Moderate.
I’m with ToeJam, I have lived within 40 miles of where I was raised (but also not where I was born), and I have democratic leanings. However, I also consider myself fairly conservative. I hate to label myself, but when it comes down to it, I am probably most accurately described as a conservative liberal.
Now they show the opposite of what the OP suspected, as 80% of Republicans have lived more than 40 miles from where they grew up, which is a greater precentage than Democrats who have done likewise.
No, actually, I voted other because I have only lived at home with my parents, or very far away, but I don’t consider myself a Democrat. Liberal, yes, but decidedly not a member of any organized political party.
I also voted “Other” because I consider myself an independent.
However, I’ve lived for more than a decade each in the Northeast (Massachusetts), Midwest (Illinois) and South (Tennessee). And when I was young, I identified as Republican. As I’ve gotten older I’ve become more moderate, but I don’t know if that’s related to my mobility or just my advancing age and wisdom.
I took a slightly more liberal approach to the thing; it’s not just 40 miles, but I’ve always lived in the Chicago area. Granted, this is largely due to a couple of dumb-in-retrospect choices. And I’m pretty far left on the political spectrum. I mean, I’m reasonable. I respect other ideas. But, when it comes down to brass tacks, I’m probably too liberal for the Dems. But, since I’m in the US, that’s the part I get moved in to.
I am, however, looking at moving to Canada (not for any half-baked political reason; I have dual citizenship, and I’ve always loved Ottawa), so maybe I don’t count .
I think Liberal vs. Conservative would be better for polling.
As for me, I’m a registered Republican*, but I’ve never actually voted for a Republican, unless one of the local government people ran as Republican and I didn’t notice. When I signed up as a Republican, I didn’t really know anything about their economic policy, and consider myself fairly liberal.
So while I’m going to vote option 2, I’m not sure I really fit what you wanted to know.
*Unless membership expires and I didn’t know it. I was encouraged to register when I signed up to vote 7 years ago.
I live 600 miles from my birthplace, and I am… well, Independent. We don’t choose here to register with a party, and I vote for the person who I think will do the best job. Political party doesn’t play in to that choice.
I voted for “I have lived in various states/cities and I am a Democrat,” but I only just moved away from my hometown six months ago (about 400 miles away - PA to NC), so “various” = “two.” I’m 23, for the record.
I’ve lived in two states (on opposite coasts) and another country, and don’t really consider myself to be a Democrat or Republican. I tend to agree/disagree with ideas from every party.
It should be liberals that are more likely to stay close to home (in terms of absolute distance). This is because liberals will hail disproportionately from urban areas, and if your hometown is a major city you can make major moves between social and economic strata without relocating more than a few miles, and almost any profession can be practiced from where you grew up. In suburban and rural areas, which will tend to be disproportionately conservative, society is sufficiently spread out (geographically) that even a rather minor, non-disruptive move can mean a relocation of more than 40 miles.
Or, look at at this way: I’ve lived in New York City my whole life, and recently moved. One could estimate that my new residence is roughly one million people away from my old residence, even though the two are only separated by 5 or 6 miles. If I’d started out in upstate New York, however, to move a million people away from home would likely require a journey of several hundred miles.
