There is a corner of Compton that's nearly as Democratic as the Bill and Hillary Clinton household in New York. And part of La Mirada tilts so Republican, it's like Los Angeles County's own private Idaho.
In every presidential election since 1988, a majority of county voters favored the Democratic nominee. But the region's political tent proved big enough in 2000 to accommodate a precinct where George W. Bush bagged 93% of the ballots, his best mark in California for a polling ward of more than 35 voters.
The Bush super-stronghold consisted mostly of Biola University, an evangelical Christian college in La Mirada. Just 15 miles away, the Compton precinct handed Al Gore 96% of the vote, tops in the county and close to his high mark in the state.
Residents of both areas predict similar results in Tuesday's showdown between President Bush and Sen. John F. Kerry.
"It's cool," student Dustin Earl said of Bush's popularity at Biola. Echoing many on campus, the 23-year-old philosophy major said he admired Bush for his opposition to abortion rights.
"You don't have much of a wide range of views here," Earl noted.
The same is true in the Compton precinct. Its cluster of tidy houses sits across Central Avenue from Compton Airport.
"I wouldn't be surprised if Kerry gets 100%," said Shep Edwards, 47, a telephone company technician. In a neighborhood refrain, he railed against Bush for the war in Iraq.
"We're in Iraq fighting over oil, basically," he said.
The precincts have patches of common ground. The young people at Biola spoke of their devotion to family values and lofty morals, as did the Compton folks. And the Compton voters were almost as likely as their Biola counterparts to invoke the Bible when discussing their political beliefs.
"Jesus would be a liberal, because he was always telling the rich to sell what they have and follow him," said Mollie Bell, 57, a postal worker who lives on 158th Street. "He has given us a commission to continue doing what he was doing, to help the downtrodden."
Biola theology student Joe Barsuglia, 23, couldn't quarrel with that.
"I think Jesus would have been a Democrat," he said with an uneasy chuckle. "He was a social reformer."
But Barsuglia said he would vote for Bush: "I think he's a strong leader."
The earthly divide between Biola and Compton is mirrored in their demographics and surroundings.
