The cyan and the————-

15 November 2004

Last year, some clever folks at MassINC devised a map, based on demographic data and county-level Presidential election returns, that divided the US into ten regions of roughly equal population. The party that can win six regions can get the White House without resorting to lawsuits. (In 2000, Bush only got five.)

Every time you hear someone pontificate about how “security moms” or “NASCAR dads” or some other s are the swing voters that the Democrats simply must appeal to, meditate on this map to purify your mind.

In the 2004 election, the region that favored Bush by the closest margin, 50.13%, was Big River, the cyan area that straddles the Mississippi. Here’s the test for aspiring Democratic Party wonks: which region had the second closest margin, 51.47% for Bush?

• Later: The operation was a success, but the patient died
• Earlier: “Insanity is continuing to do the same things over and over again and expecting a different result.”