Candidates: Where They're From?

A lot of the focus during elections are on candidate's proposed policies and view points, but not on where these come from.  If you couldn't figure it out from my other post, I like to take things and examine their origins.  Thus, while what a candidate says today may be relevant to who you vote for, I find it just as intriguing to see what has inclined them to say those particular things.

It is no surprise that Obama and Romney have very different policies on certain issues.  It is also no secret that Obama and Romney come from very different places.  Remember, itt is hard to verify the effects one's environment has on one's personality and world view, however it is still interesting to make inferences.  These are not truths, but simply guesses. 

First, lets take a look at Obama.  The world he came from was one filled with uncertainty and change (notice the connection to the 2008 slogan?).  He was born in Hawaii, then relocated to Seattle, then Jakarta, back to Hawaii, then Los Angeles... etc.  His parents divorced.  He lived with his grandparents.  From these factors, a few connections can be made to his current policies.  Obama fosters a more liberal and open foreign policy, maybe resulting from his upbringing in more "foreign" locations.  His immersion in Indonesian society as a child could have implanted positive view of foreign nations that would cause him to be biased towards cooperation over competition.  Due to the lack of a stable family of his own while a child, he could have recognized that the idea of a "conventional" family is outdated and reductionist.  This may have influenced his policies on gay marriage, abortion, and other social issues. 

Romney is up next.  In terms of foreign policy, Romney's place of upbringing sticks out like a sore thumb.  Detroit is a city that isn't too fond of foreigners.  Being the hub of the auto industry, the risk foreign companies posed to his own prosperity could influence his foreign policy.  With his promises to label China as a currency manipulator and his offensive posture towards Russia, it is obvious he views them more as threats rather than friends.  Raised in the family of a CEO of an auto corporation, his experiences as a child could have painted a negative image of the government as his father grappled with taxes and regulations. 

These environmental factors outlined above are not the sole determinants of politicans' policies.  There are politicians that hold view similar to Romney who have upbringings similar to Obama, and vice-versa.  Is one correlation more frequent than the other?  How have these changed over the past century?  How have our own upbringings effected our political views?  All of these are intriguing questions.