I just mentioned this in the PA thread, but I'm surprised that I haven't seen this website
http://www.uselectionatlas.org/ cited before. I think it's an interesting look at how people voted in the 2000 presidential election, county by county. You can see which states were all Rep or all Dem by county (not many) and how a densely populated metropolis can cancel out vast swathes of sparsely populated wingnut country. I recommend this site if you're looking for some facts and figures to back up your intuition.