If you've been a student of elections, particularly if you're a Republican, you're used to seeing this map. It's made by Prof. Joseph Olson of Hemline University School of Law in Minnesota. It compares the geography of voting, and it's breakdown by party.
We in the GOP love to use this map, because it always seems to confirm that Republicans are the majority party. Here are some of the numbers that Olson figured out:
Number of States Won
GOP 29-19
Square Miles of Land Won
GOP 2.45 million - 525,000.
Population of Counties Won
GOP 143-127 Million
Murder Rate of Counties Won
Democratic 13.2 - 2.1 per 100,000.
So, what does this tell you in short? That the GOP wins in the rural areas, and the Democrats run the cities - where the people are. Also, despite the 16 million person population advantage, Barack Obama won by 6 points, which is pretty sizable in today's landscape. That means that John McCain won by a thin margin whereever he won, while Obama ran away with the vote in his areas...
While it might be a little comforting to look at this map, I think it does us a bit of a disservice. Square mileage and murder rates may make us feel superior, but the fact is that we are the minority party. It's a fact. The day we accept that we lost pretty much across the board, the better off we'll be in the future. We have a lot of work to do...
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7 comments:
The view from the left:
http://www.openleft.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=11134
Playing the margins like the quants on Wall St.
Thoughts on Kevin Hall for chair?
If it was the majority party, the republicans would have won. this did not happen. therefore, the republican party is delusional. When I watch the news and see what the republican party is doing, it confirms that they are out of touch. Like you said, they have alot of work to do.
Rhino, Kevin is a 6th Districter, although I would likely guess he's in the Cola -area of the District, which isn't really the 6th. However, he was very helpful during the district convention. It is time for some new blood.
Bob, like the minority party often does, they had a few good points about some parts of the bill that had NOTHING to do with economic stimulus. They knew it, and just about anything the Dems want will be passed due to the landslide.
On Hall, he came out pretty strong on the ridiculous "I Believe" plate thing. If he gets the chair, it looks kind of like more of the same. How about a conservative party that actually concerns itself with conservative issues instead of religious ones?
Kevin Hall is a nice guy. If you go to his web site the picture of him and his daughter is one I took at the RNC in MSP back in September. If Katon does not run for reelection then we will have one other choice right now and that is Rick Beltram of Spartanburg.
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