A Bluer America?

For the first time in 8 years, the United States leaned to the Democrats in a decisive fashion. Concerns of a one party rule did not deter Americans from giving Democrats power in the House, Senate and Executive branch.

Although Barack Obama did not have an Electoral Landslide it was still an impressive win … perhaps more like an Electoral Mudslide. After crunching the numbers and reviewing the way Americans voted there was an overwhelming shift and it was blue.

The New York Times released an interactive map that compares the 2008 election to the one in 2004 and one stark difference is how blue America has become.

Compared to 2004, each county voted more Democratic this election. As you can tell from the map, the South remained Red with Arkansas being the heart of the GOP base. Oklahoma and Tennessee were also Red but not as dark as Arkansas. Alabama, Mississippi and Georgia have done a 360 and it looks like they may shift blue in the coming years.

Surprisingly, Texas is turning blue with only the north being a Republicans stronghold but as you can tell the pink in color represents weak support and I speculate as I did earlier in “Examining How Texas Voted” that Texas is the next California due to its Hispanic population.

What does this mean to Barack Obama or Howard Dean? It means that their 50 State strategy may be the correct path for the Democrats. They have chipped away at the stronghold that Republicans had over the country and the South.

It is a matter of time and pragmatic policy making before Americans can enjoy a less divisive America.