Growing up indoctrinated into conversative evangelism, I saw that the Midwestern flavor valued freedom of individuals from government. It was a shallow flavor of self sufficiency, which discounted all social support except family and churches. Abortion was a wedge issue preached from every platform.

Tribalism was a key substrate. This often manifested as a near blind loyalty to the party and chosen thought leaders like Bill Graham, Rush Limbaugh, Bill O'Reilly, and now Tucker Carlson. They told us how to interpret events and we repeated the talking points. They gave us the (often contradictory) rules and principles we were to use to view everything in life.