I have some posts on my other weblog about the way regionalism played out in this election. The electoral college map flip; drift?, Where Obama overperformed & underperformed and The Great White Sort. Steve points out the relevance of Affordable Family Formation and the Dirt Gap. It seems likely that we’re entering into a very ideologically polarized and sectional period; likely narrow flips back and forth. Looking at state level exit polls can only say so much. I would be willing to bet that a survey of white voters in the Tampa area, where Midwestern retirees congregate, would show Obama gains, while northern Florida whites would resemble those in the rest of the South. This is why I think Florida turned out to be a wash in the white vote.
P.S. If you haven’t read Albion’s Seed, and these sorts of patterns interest you, you need to read it. It adds a lot of insight. It is handy to know what the “Western Reserve” was, and why it matters today. Or why there is a Portland, OR, and Portland, ME, and a Salem, OR, and Salem, MA.
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