East-Coast liberal
East-Coast liberal is a political stereotype
which in many circumstances has a pejorative meaning.
A certain stereotype of person in American political culture, designating a white-collar, widely travelled young urban professional, usually White male, who is well versed of common themes of the National Geographic, typically with competent knowledge of Japanese and other languages, treasures his "profound" knowledge in the philosophies, cultures (that is, both popular and traditional), societies around the globe, tends to hold liberal doctrines in international relations and liberal political ideology and greatly differs from other liberals in his firm attachment to the American East-coast capitalist establishment.
East-coast liberalism is also contrasted with Great Plains liberalism, union liberalism, and West-coast liberalism.
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.
Among liberals, there is often the belief that the pejorative views against East -coast liberals stems in part from Southern opposition to the 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 and Michael Dukakis in 1988.
Curiously John F. Kennedy is not widely regarded as an East-coast liberal.
See bleeding-heart liberal, hippie, democratic socialist, radical liberal, moderate liberal, social liberal, Keynesian, peacenik, bohemian, beatnik, anarcho-liberal, closet liberal
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