Local readers of USA Today might have been pleased recently when the city of Spokane Valley was mentioned in one of those trendy "list" stories as No. 1. But they may have been incredulous that it topped the list it was on.

Spokane Valley was listed as the nation's best city for political "centrists".

That's right, the Spokane Valley, which currently has no Democrats running in its legislative races, where candidates for nonpartisan municipal offices proudly mention their Republican affiliation -- and sometimes vie for being a better Republican than the opponent -- and have so few Democrats that some D precinct caucuses could be held in a phone booth, if one could find a phone booth. Yes, that Spokane Valley.

USA Today got the Centrist List, as well as the most conservative and the most liberal list, from the Livability Website, which seems to have compiled its rankings with some bad information. . .

Livability says it compiled its lists based on several factors: recent election results, some polling results and preference for certain products, programs and establishments.

While elected officials representing Spokane Valley, Wash., tend to lean towards the right of the political spectrum, most residents identify themselves as liberals. The result is a well-balanced city where values on both sides are respected. Votes were split nearly even during the last two presidential elections, with Republicans winning by less than 3 percent. Races for governor and the Senate seat have followed the same pattern.

That description of the Valley's recent voting results is pretty far off.  Mitt Romney got 55 percent of the vote in the Valley in 2012, and GOP gubernatorial candidate Rob McKenna got 58 percent. Mike Baumgartner, running for U.S. Senate, only got 51 percent of the vote against Maria Cantwell, but his conservative Republican cred was hampered by the fact that he's from the city of Spokane, which trumps partisan politics on many matters. Republican Dino Rossi got 59 percent of the vote against Democrat Patty Murray in 2010. John McCain got 54 percent of the vote in 2008 and Rossi got 54 percent of the vote against Gov. Chris Gregoire that same year. So no, the votes were not "split nearly even" in most of those races.

It's not clear what survey Livability found in which most residents identified themselves as liberal, but try it the next time you're with a group of people in the Valley by saying "raise your hand if you're a liberal". Bet you won't have to count many hands.

Livability further opines:

Residents here are likely to ...

• drive a Subaru.
• eat at Qdoba.
• shop at REI.

The website, which compiles lots of lists on the many qualities cities might have,  worked with a marketing company to come up with a list of products are preferred by liberals, conservatives and centrists. Liberals, it concluded, like Subarus; conservatives like Buicks and centrists like Cadillacs. Liberals shop at REI; conservatives at Sam's Club and centrists at American Eagle Outfitter. Liberals eat at Qdoba, conservatives at Hardee's and centrists at Chick-fil-a.

The folks at Livability must not  know that the nearest Chick fil a to the Valley is in Boise, and there are no Hardee's anywhere around here. In this part of the country, Hardee's are called Carl's Jr. So, obviously, the one Qdoba is going to come out on top.

 There's also no Sam's Club. While the American Eagle Outfitter probably does OK in the Valley Mall, the REI store in downtown Spokane has been around so long it's customer base is going to be much larger. Politics aside, it occupies a key niche for outdoor gear while AE Outfitters competes with lots of other clothing stores.

As for cars, Subarus probably are more common in the Valley than Buicks or Cadillacs. That's probably less a sign of political preference than a fondness for four-wheel-drive, to get around in the snow.

So sorry USA Today. Sorry Livability.com. The Spokane Valley isn't centrist, let alone the No. 1 city for centrists in the nation.

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