The red and blue states of white* America

The red and blue states of white* America
(*and hispanic)
Observationalism.com
October 20, 2008

Summary

Brian Beutler noted the difference between the perception of California as a liberal bastion and the electoral reality. The state is solid blue thanks to Latino voters, Ezra Klein adds: unlike Vermont or Massachusetts, white voters in California are not particularly liberal. Which raises the question: how different is the electoral map of America if you only show the white vote?

Plugging in the exit poll data of the 2004 presidential elections, a map showing the red and blue states of white America turns out to look quite different from the overall map, in some interesting ways. The Bush vote, in particular, turns out to be centred differently if you only look at white voters. A map showing only the Latino vote, meanwhile, shows big regional differences.

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