So today I was supposed to write about Divided America, a book long on statistics and short on useful ideas. But given Barrack Obama’s selection as the Democratic nominee, I find myself less able than ever to delve into Earl and Merle Black’s thesis that America is an evenly divided country with the Democrats controlling the Norheast and the West Coast, the Republicans controlling the South and the Mountains/Plains states and the Midwest cast as the eternal "swing" region. Of course, I could easily point out how dry and un-engaging I found the Black brothers analysis of long term regional polling data or the fact that the Black’s intense categorization of the electorate as, for example "non-Christian whites" vs "New American minorities" left me cold and confused. But today, it seems to me is a day to celebrate Obama’s victory. And the Blacks’ dry statistical analysis be damned.
The whole red state/blue state thing doesn’t really tell a clear story. What I find interesting is when the media displays the nationwide red/blue map divided by county rather than state. There is much more diversity of opinion that the broad strips of paint on an electoral college map would suggest.
I have to agree. And I think he won for (among many other reasons of course) not allowing himself or his campaign people to judge the states so simply. Those candidates who did try to boil their strategies down to ‘this state’s important, this one isn’t, this one has to be handled in this specific way’ all fell by the wayside.
Check out Split: A Divided America
DVD available here:
http://www.bside.com/films/splitadividedamerica