Comments on: Where McCain Did Well: Poverty, Race, and the Vote against Obama

By: DLS

DLS — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 20:14:31 +0000

Those who are blind or mentally ill will never see things clearly. Race was obviously not the issue the wacko left assumed it would be (and the worst of whom probably still believe it is). Have you ever seen (clearly) a depiction of the black population distribution in the USA, Mike?

Like this one, that some of us have known about for _years_?

http://www.census.gov/geo/www/mapGallery/images...

No, and it wouldn't be of any use in your case, probably.

To be more specific here, look closely (other readers; it's over Mike's head) and realize that in large part it's the Bible Belt, and what is one group that voted strongly for McCain, the GOP candidate?

By: pacatrue

pacatrue — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 19:16:49 +0000

It is an intriguing map, still. When I first looked at it, I thought about making some claim about “perhaps the greatest cultural divide now is between rural and urban voters.” But that's not quite right either. There are many rural areas as well that are blue, such as the Delta or South Texas. So one might be tempted to say it's a cross-section of race (with the Delta being largely black and S. Texas being largely Hispanic) and “ruralness”, but that's not quite right either. After all, Vermont is almost entirely a rural state and it's as blue as it gets, while the upper midwest has many blue rural counties. There's not simple explanation for the map.

By: AustinRoth

AustinRoth — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 01:21:58 +0000

ml -

Um, if you are trying to point out that Obama received more votes, and more of the electoral college, well, duh.

I was making no point, just printing a map from that bastion of Conservatism, the LA Times, that shows that urban areas are more Democratic and rural areas more Republican.

I just hadn't expected it to still be so geographically disparate still. I had expected more blue was all, hence my modifier of 'surprisingly'.

By: mlhradio

mlhradio — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 00:08:53 +0000

AustinRoth – sure, the map is red, if you go by the size of the county, instead of the population.

Here's a similar map, where the size of the counties are skewed based on their population: http://www-personal.umich.edu/~mejn/election/20...

And another map, where there are gradations of purple instead of just red and blue: http://www-personal.umich.edu/~mejn/election/20...

Suddenly the map isn't so red anymore.

More here: http://matthigh.livejournal.com/330305.html
And especially here: http://www-personal.umich.edu/~mejn/election/2008/

By: Rambie

Rambie — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 22:51:00 +0000

I guess since Utah is already one of the “reddest” States, I'm not surprised it didn't show up this type of comparison. Well, that and support for McCain seemed more lackluster if I was to judge by the strange dearth of McCain bumper stickers and yard signs.

By: pacatrue

pacatrue — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 21:34:45 +0000

Great link, AR. Thanks.

By: AustinRoth

AustinRoth — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 21:06:08 +0000

Via the LA Times, Presidential voting results county-by-county. Still surprisingly red/pink overall:

http://projects.latimes.com/graphics/2008-presi...

By: pacatrue

pacatrue — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 20:56:24 +0000

Your guess on northern Mississippi versus northern Alabama is essentially correct. The northwest corner of Mississippi is dominated by suburbs of Memphis and the Delta. The Delta counties in particular are heavily black (many are majority black). As you move East to Tupelo and farther, the percentage of whites increases and that's true across northern Alabama. Pulaski, TN, just over the border from northern AL was once a center of the Klan.