Better Maps

[tmcg]

janni and lnhammer pointed to these alternative national-results maps:

Blue and red shading to purple, by state

Blue and red by county

Comments

[ferragus.livejournal.com]

The Blue and Red link is kind of depressing, but the purple reminds us of just how close we were.

I'm still thunderstruck by the 60% turnout. I didn't expect 100% turnout but it will never cease to amaze me that 2 in 5 of the folks that registered to vote didn't.

I think in 2006 the push needs to be to get that 40% to at least consider voting early. I voted absentee (in case I was late getting back from WFC) and it was a breeze.

[terrymcgarry.livejournal.com]

I don't know if that's a get-out-the-vote strategy that's been tried, but if not it would be well worth a shot. I don't know if it would help counter apathy or learned helplessness, but for people deterred by logistics it could be the perfect suggestion.

[kalligraphy.livejournal.com]

The blue and red map shows the dividing lines where this country is right now. The amount of red is not surprising, what it shows is land area, not population densities. You want an interesting map, map population densities with who they voted for and see a correlation. High population urban areas went predominantly for Kerry, low density rural areas went for Bush. It may cover more land mass, but density is not constant.

Look at DC, it is one huge urban area with no rural group to speak of and it went 90% for Kerry, Arlington Va, is also very urban and it went something like 70% for Kerry, likewise Fairfax Va, also fairly urban went something like 60% for Kerry. The Map shows that, you just can't tell where the urban areas are on an unmarked map. The dividing line seems to be between urban and rural.

A look at the polls shows that something like 80% of the people who voted for Bush were white males. 60% of males in general voted for Bush. While something like 60% of females voted for Kerry. Looking at issues, something like 22% of the people who voted felt that "morals" was the important issue and 80% of them voted for bush. Another 20% felt that the war on terrorism was the most importan issue and 80% of them voted for Bush. 21% of people felt that the economy was the most important issue and 80% of them voted for Kerry and 16% of people felt that the war in Iraq was the most important issue and 80% of them voted for Kerry. So how is it that Bush got a good reputation for the war on terror and moral standing. This has to do with GOP spin, misinformation from the media and religious issues. There are people in this country that BELIEVE that because Bush is an evangelical christian who wears his religion in the open, that makes him a good moral man. It reminds me of an old song called "He Goes to Church on Sunday". The song details a man who spends all week lying, cheating, stealing and in general being a bad person but because he goes to church on Sunday, his neighbors say his is an honest man. We KNOW this to be false, but this is what these evangelical christians believe. They make up a large chunk of the rural voting population, so there you have it. Some 20% of the people who voted, almost half of the people who voted for Bush, voted for him because of his religion, not based on issues or facts. What he does is unimportant, it is what he professes that matters. This nation is becoming a religious nation run by religious nut cases.

The Chrisitian Coalition version of the Taliban HAS taken over. Ladies, get out your burqas, give up your jobs, stay home and be housewives and do as your husband wishes or he may beat you. That is what a good fundamentalist christian woman does. Stays home, barefoot and pregnant providing a home for her husband and his sons. If you think I am kidding, you haven't studied the opposition enough, they do believe this. I used to work with an evangelical christian and some of the things he would say were truly offensive. Bigoted, small minded and chauvanistic. Welcome to George W. Bush's America.

[fionagh.livejournal.com]

What's most depressing about this, and I'm saying this as an atheist, is how very wrong all those people are about the spirit of the law that's represented in the Bible after you strip away its historical context. Religions were my study in my anthropology degree. When I see fundies wanting a theocracy like this, I know that staring at all that red, and at that purple, it means so many people have misrepresented a very simple message from Christianity. For the record, I feel this way about Islam and other major religions as well. This is what I find so dangerous about them.

We had separation of Church and State for a reason in this country. This is what we should be fighting to preserve more than anything.

[kalligraphy.livejournal.com]

I agree fully. I was raised roman catholic, I was sent to a catholic school for 8 years, I grew up in the late 60's and early 70's under the influence of Vatican II. I was taught a very differen definition of what it meant to be christian than the judgemental, hateful, controling version of christianity that many fundamentalists seem to follow. We do have a seperation of church and state for a reason, our founding fathers did it because they knew the danger that a mixture of church and state represents. But the christian coalition ignore that danger and seek to over turn that simple decree. Just look to things like the Republican Party Platform for the state of Texas where it states their goal is to destroy the myth of the seperation of church and state. This is the party of Tom DeLay and George Bush, you need look no further to see what path we are headed down.

[fionagh.livejournal.com]

P.S. nice picture of Kali. My favorite Hindu Goddess is Durga.

[kalligraphy.livejournal.com]

Thanks. My use of the icon is more related to my name. My name is Kalli, which is derived from Kali and means dark goddess though I am in fact neither dark nor a goddess. :) My mom just liked the name without paying much attention to it's meaning :)

[larryhammer]

You're not a goddess? Oops. <unobtrusively takes back offering>

---L.

[terrymcgarry.livejournal.com]

I'm a Ganesha fan myself. He's guarding my kitchen at the moment, which is probably a good thing: that's a dangerous place for me. *g*

I had to look up (http://www.sanatansociety.org/hindu_gods_and_goddesses/durga.htm) Durga. "The name 'Durga' in Sanskrit means 'invincible'. The syllable 'du' is synonymous with the 4 devils of poverty, sufferings, famine and evil habits. The 'r' refers to diseases and the 'ga' is the destroyer of sins, injustice, irreligion, cruelty and laziness." --Cool. :)

[larryhammer]

One more: purple by county.

---L.

[aka-tippi.livejournal.com]

Wow that county map is really telling. The more densely populated the area, the more democratic. Blue areas follow coasts, borders, and waterways.