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1 of 1- Goose
- Cogito ergo sum
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- Registered: 1/29/2015
- Posts: 13,427
The Balkanization of the United States
How Large Is the Divide
Between Red and Blue America?
As of 2012, the divide was pretty wide. Half of all voters were living in a county that President Obama or Mitt Romney, the Republican nominee that year, won in a landslide, which is defined here as a county won by 20 percentage points or more.
The proportion of voters living in landslide counties has steadily increased since 1992, a trend that reflects the growing tendency of like-minded people to live near one another, according to Bill Bishop, a co-author of “The Big Sort,” a 2008 book that identified this phenomenon.
Americans have been self-segregating by lifestyle, though not necessarily politics, for several decades, Mr. Bishop said, but lifestyle has grown to reflect politics. “We’re sorting by the way we live, think and — it turns out — every four years or every two years, how we vote.”
Some political scientists expect the landslide trend to continue in the 2016 presidential election. “If anything, I think we’ll see it intensify because Trump has been doing very well among the kinds of voters who tend to live in rural and small-town America,” said Alan Abramowitz, a political science professor at Emory University in Atlanta.
Who Lives in These Counties
Republican landslide counties are
generally whiter than Democratic ones.
But whites in Democratic
strongholds tend to be wealthier ...
… and more educated.
People in Republican strongholds
are more likely to be married ...
... and religious.
People in the bluest counties are more
likely to work in “new economy” sectors
like technology and health care services.
A larger share of those in Republican landslide
counties rely on “old economy” industries
like manufacturing, agriculture and trade.
Continued here:
Last edited by Goose (11/04/2016 8:54 am)
We live in a time in which decent and otherwise sensible people are surrendering too easily to the hectoring of morons or extremists.
- Goose
- Cogito ergo sum
Offline
- Registered: 1/29/2015
- Posts: 13,427
Re: The Balkanization of the United States
As I ponder this, I realize that I have lived on both sides of the divide.
I spent 22 years in either York or Lancaster counties, which are rock solid republican.
And I lived in first Baltimore, and now Berkshire County MA for 12 years, which are democratic strongholds.
Each have their distinctive features and vibe. And, there are commonalities, if we choose to see each other beyond stereotypes.
Hmm, there might be a book in this,,, The Migrations of the Goose, or something like that. 
Last edited by Goose (11/04/2016 8:58 am)
We live in a time in which decent and otherwise sensible people are surrendering too easily to the hectoring of morons or extremists.
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