Economically Booming Northern Virginia Far More Liberal than Rest of Virginia

I noted a Washington Post poll yesterday that showed that a plurality of Virginians now favor gay marriage and a majority favor gay couples adopting. The poll also showed something that I have discussed a lot on this blog: that liberal social views equate to economic growth while closed mindedness and bigotry towards others equate to stagnation or decline. The Washington Post has discussions of this phenomenon which ought to be a wake up call to political leaders in other parts of Virginia who need to grow a spine and flat out say that catering to Christianist policies is economic poison. Will it happen? Probably not. At least not in most areas of the state, especially those at the bottom of the economic heap like southwest Virginia (the city of Martinsville is a prime examle) where bigotry and prejudice are more akin to what existed back at the time of Loving v. Virginia than what ought to predominate in 2011. Not surprisingly, many college educated residents of Hampton Roads leave the area to settle in Northern Virginia and/or D.C. Here are some findings from the Washington Post poll on that parallel directly with progressiveness and economic growth:
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In case there was any doubt that Northern Virginia is a liberal enclave in an otherwise conservative state, check out these tidbits from the new Washington Post poll of Virginians:
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• In the entire Commonwealth, 42 percent of those polled support the Obama health care reforms — but that number jumps to 60 percent in Fairfax-Arlington-Alexandria.

• Asked to classify themselves on social issues, fully 50 percent of Fairfax-Arlington-Alexandria respondents called themselves “liberal,” compared with 31 percent for the rest of the state.
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Though 60 percent of Fairfax-Arlington-Alexandria respondents support Obama’s health care plan, that number drops to 44 percent in the Rest of Northern Virginia. In the rest of Virginia, the support is 38 percent.
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When it comes to support of gay marriage, 64 percent of Fairfax-Arlington-Alexandria backs it, while only 47 percent of the Rest of Northern Virginia does. Combining the two groups, 63 percent of Northern Virginia supports gay marriage, compared to 42 percent of the rest of the state.
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The exurbs were slightly more liberal on gay adoption and abortion. While 68 percent of Fairfax-Arlington-Alexandria respondents supported legalizing adoption by gay parents, 56 percent of those in the Rest of Northern Virginia did too. The rest of the state came in at 51 percent.
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But when respondents were asked about their economic status, 32 percent of Fairfax-Arlington-Alexandria residents said they were “getting ahead financially.” Only 17 percent of the Rest of Northern Virginia respondents said that. For the rest of the state, the total was 15 percent.
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A graphic of these findings can be found here.