Let’s take a look at the states Bernie Sanders won. His home state VT, check. California, check; CA is part of the left coast in more ways than one. Along with Oregon, Colorado is where liberal Californians go to escape the overcrowding while hanging onto legal weed and a nanny government. Conservatives leaving CA go to NV, ID or TX.
The outlier in this Bernie-favoring group is Utah. Being a progressive in Mormon Utah is like being a conservative in CA. You’d see yourself as a member of a beleaguered minority, the perception is radicalizing.
A reentry student of mine had been for several years a non-Mormon living in Provo. She reported the non-Mormon ‘expats’ would get drunk together out of solidarity, even though some didn’t much enjoy bonding via hangovers. Favoring socialism is a non-chemical, but equally self-destructive, way to rebel against UT’s conservative zeitgeist.
