2008 Election County-By-County
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James Joyner | Wednesday, November 5, 2008 |
After George W. Bush won the 2000 election, despite having received substantially fewer votes nationwide than Al Gore, many of us took great comfort in this famous map, showing the election results county-by-county:
2000 Election County-By-County Map
In 2004, Bush won re-election by a majority — but John Kerry nearly took it anyway because of a close call in Ohio — and we saw the reemergence of the map:
2004 Election County-By-County Map
Well, here it is again, for 2008:
2008 Election County-By-County Map
Because of population patterns, you’d guess that the Red team won. The actual results, which aren’t final, have Obama winning 63.5 million to McCain’s 56.1 million, or 52.4% to 46.3%.
To make Brad Delong happy, here’s the “purple” version of the map, showing it based on the relative percentage of Republicans and Democrats in each county (as opposed to the winner-take-all version, which distorts the perception):
2008 Election County-By-County Map
Purple likely distorts it, too, simply because of the hue values, but it’s closer than Red-Blue in this case.
RELATED:
2008 maps courtesy Mark Newman. Earlier maps from USA Today.
About the Author: James Joyner is the publisher of Outside the Beltway and the managing editor of the Atlantic Council. He's a former Army officer, Desert Storm vet, and college professor with a PhD in political science from The University of Alabama. He lives just outside the Beltway in Alexandria, Virginia with his wife and infant daughter.
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Useless without population weighting. We don't have a one acre/one vote system.
We don't have a one acre/one vote system.
But we do have a federalist one. I'm in favor of a national popular vote for a variety of reasons but am not indifferent to the arguments for a state-by-state allocation of votes.
I'm not really talking about politics, I'm talking about cartography. See here for one of my favorite documents about election infographics, and some very nice examples.
http://www.style.org/mappingvotes/
Of course, the California gubernatorial election doesn't have the 3EV-minimum distortion that our presidential election has. Neat maps, anyway.
In other words, Obama won the counties where people tend to live.
I live in one of those blue dots that was a red dot in 2000 and 2004. The thing I noticed about this blue dot is that in almost every other line on the ballot it voted Republican. I attribute this to a moderately conservative dispostion that was attracted to Obama's personality, demeanor and life story.
I see an opportunity for Obama to convert, but I think it would be a mistake to assume that they are converted.
Because of population patterns, you’d guess that the Red team won.
I'm sorry to pile on James, but, sorry, NO, only a moron would think that a particular side won by looking at the dominance of one color or another on those maps.
As Jeff Baker and Anderson says the area on the maps represent land area--they don't represent votes.
I'm sorry to pile on James, but, sorry, NO, only a moron would think that a particular side won by looking at the dominance of one color or another on those maps.
blah, I when I play Risk I alway start in China take over that side of the map and by the end of the night all them gimps are speaking Chinese.
oh sorry you said on those maps. I see them now. I need to actually start looking at the post instead of just cheeking to see what the donkakooks are blithering now.
Ill restart this as my effort into giving the the new 3rd R.... oops I mean administration a chance to show what there made of.
Whatever the margin, at least we have a VP who knows that Africa isn't one country and what countries are in North America.
Whatever the margin, at least we have a VP who knows that Africa isn't one country and what countries are in North America.
I am not so sure of this one.
After all he thinks the US and France kicked Hezbollah out of Lebanon. And that JOBS is a three letter word.
I've been looking everywhere for these maps. Thanks OTB!
To show how silly these maps are, consider 2 counties in Pennsylvania. Fulton County in South Central Pennsylvania voted 74-25 McCain, while Philadelphia County voted 83-16 Obama, so both would show up in pretty clear hues (source -- PA Secretary of State). Fulton County is almost exactly 3 times larger than Philadelphia County (438 sq. miles to 143) (source -- Wikipedia). Yet McCain's win in Fulton County netted him 3,050 votes (4,612 to 1,562). Obama's win in Philadelphia County netted him 461,008 votes (574,042 to 113,034).
Sorry, but land mass just doesn't mean much.
people are stupid. land is good XD
