Reply #32: There is a Sharp Divide Between the West and the South [View All]

[On the Road]

In recent decades, they've both been lumped into the red state category. But Obama is showing the dividing line very clearly.

Westerners are not burdened as much with the racial history and stereotypes of the South. It's less evangelical. There is a greater tradition of rugged individualism, which sometimes can result in more open-mindedness to candidates from a different background. And because the government is such a large landholder in the West, Westerners are more likley to accept the general idea of government involvement in the economy as long as it's enlightened.

Kentucky is geographically farther north, but otherwise is more compatible with Alabama than Ohio. West Virginia repudiated slavery during the Civil War, but they were once a slaveholding state. Those things are true of a lot of states, but the lack of large cosmopolitan areas like Virginia has skew the balance of the voters toward the red end of the spectrum.

At least those are some broad-brush generalizations. I am very interested to see whether Obama (and other Dean-type candidates) can begin to create some more purple states West of the Mississippi. KY and WV I am not as optimistic about.