East Coast liberal
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The term East Coast liberal is a stereotype encountered in American political culture, often with a pejorative meaning.
The image associated with East-Coast liberalism is that of a white-collar young urban professional, usually a white male, who is college-educated and widely travelled. Beliefs typical of East-Coast liberals include an emphasis on diplomacy and internationalism, accompanied by attachment to the American East-coast capitalist establishment.
Within American political discourse, the East coast liberal is often stereotyped as being out of touch and condescending toward plain, ordinary folks who are rural and conservative. East-coast liberals are stereotyped as being soft on crime and national security.
East Coast Liberalism is also contrasted with Union/Labor Liberalism (usually from Rustbelt Cities), and West Coast Liberalism.
Among liberals, there is often the belief that the prejudice against East-coast liberals stem in part from Southern opposition to the American civil rights movement and on efforts by liberals to end segregation.
The charge of being an East-coast liberal was made against and severely hurt the campaigns of Adlai Stevenson in 1952, Michael Dukakis in 1988, and John Kerry in 2004. Curiously John F. Kennedy, who was a Democrat from Massachusetts, is not widely regarded as an East-coast liberal.
- In Israel, there are very similar connotations to the term "Tel Aviv Leftist" (שמאלני תל אביבי).
[edit] See also
- bleeding-heart liberal, hippie, democratic socialist, radical liberal, moderate liberal, social liberal, Keynesian, peacenik, bohemianism, beatnik, anarcho-liberal, closet liberal, liberal elite, limousine liberal, progressive, Left Coast
