Four Interesting Things About the Election

1. Only 22% of America's counties voted more Republican in this election than in 2004. Where were they? Primarily in Appalachia, northern Alabama, Tennessee, Arkansas, Louisiana and eastern Oklahoma. As one commentator put it: "Obviously concerned about marginal tax rates for those earning over $250,000 a year, I suppose." Heh. This was the Palin base, the rural rump at whom all the coded crypto-racism was aimed. It worked, but thankfully for only a sliver of the American electorate. Evidence, I guess, that the old Confederacy has retained its dunces.

2. Bush won Indiana, North Carolina, and Virginia in 2004 by an aggregate 1 million votes. Obama won them in 2008 by relatively narrow margins. But he flipped roughly 10% of the electorate to do it. Huge.

3. Obama won New Mexico by 15%, Nevada by 12%, and Colorado by 8%. Hispanics moved Democratic nationwide by 25% points. This is really, really bad news for the Republicans, given US demographics. I predict that Texas may be the motherlode swing state in the 2032 election.

4. While the idiot mainstream media went all self-congratulatory about the civil rights implications of the Obama victory, and while it was moving to see the election through the lens of slavery and the African-American experience, I thought this was the best summary of how I saw the election:

"But relief today is not about Americans choosing an obviously black man over a white man, which proves we can come to terms with our past. It is about our choosing an obviously brilliant, reciprocal man over a thick, cynical one--a man who articulates a coherent vision of global commonwealth over someone advancing vague, military patriotism--which proves we can come to terms with our future."