Monday, November 10, 2008
Bluest of them all?
Not quite, but based on the recent Presidential Election, Rhode Island is closer to indigo than sky. Rhody ranked third in states showing the greatest margin of victory for President-Elect Obama (28 percent), just behind Hawaii (Obama's native state) and Vermont and just ahead of Massachusetts and New York. By contrast, McCain's largest margin of victory came in Wyoming and Oklahoma, with Utah a solid third and Idaho and Alaska also seeing red. Local Republicans are frustrated by the ritualistic dominance of Dems, but they're at a symbolic disadvantage since the last thing you ever want to see in an Ocean State is a red tide.
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Indeed! And it's perhaps most interesting to note that even in traditionally red states like Virginia and Colorado, the small blue pockets surrounding the major urban areas frequently carried the state for Obama.
I imagine that Republicanism and conservatism will be slowly chipped away as the urban consciousness finds its way into rural America via the Internet.
My guess is that there's more at work here than a blue wave. Obama's charisma, competence and steady-on-the-message campaign, Bush fatigue, the sinking economy, the right wing wiping out the moderates of their own party, the influence of the YouTube generation, the nation's increased comfortability with its own multiculturalism - all subjects that the talking heads have talked to death. The demographics are changing but some of those states could easily blush red again depending on the candidates and circumstances. How long the pendulum swings to the center-left will depend on whether we see improvement in the economy, the environment, energy policy, foreign policy, et. al. in the next few years. Chipping away conservatism isn't easy. That's hard rock you're talking about.
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