After reading the interview conducted by Nate Silver with John Ziegler, the slimebag trying to use racially-slanted anecdotal interviews combined with misleading push polls intended to paint Obama voters as ignorant, I decided to slap back with some facts.
The truth is that Republicans have courted those in the poorest, least healthy and least educated states for decades, convincing them to vote against their self interests and their futures.
John McCain -- on promises to reward the rich, ignore notions of universal health care and do nothing on education -- did exceptionally well in the states which would least benefit from his election.
Using a variety of nonpartisan studies, from the Center for Disease Control to the National Education Association, I obtained the state ranking in a variety of societal ills and threw numbers into a database. The results, while not surprising, demonstrated my supposition without anecdotes or partisan polling.
And the reason I did this was not to single out red states as dull and witless, but to point out the opportunity that is before Democrats in the next four years.
I live in a red state -- one with the nation's highest violent crime rate as well as its highest dropout rate. And it didn't turn blue this year, but Barack Obama earned the highest percentage of the vote by a Democratic candidate since Jimmy Carter. Below are the facts and the hope that we can begin to do something about them.
Rates of Poverty
The 10 poorest-rated states voted in McCain's favor, 57.3 to 42.7
The rest favored Obama, 55.9 to 44.1
High School Dropout Rates
The 10 poorest-rated states voted in McCain's favor, 52.4 to 47.6
The rest favored Obama, 54.8 to 45.2
Levels of Infant Mortality
The 10 poorest-rated states voted in McCain's favor, 55.3 to 44.7
The rest favored Obama, 54.9 to 45.1
Child Obesity Rates
The 10 poorest-rated states voted in McCain's favor, 55.4 to 44.6
The rest favored Obama, 55.6 to 44.4
Teen Birthrates
The 10 poorest-rated states voted in McCain's favor, 55.9 to 44.1
The rest favored Obama, 55.5 to 44.5
Percentage of Smokers
The 10 poorest-rated states voted in McCain's favor, 55.0 to 45.0
The rest favored Obama, 54.9 to 45.1
Average Teacher Salaries
The 10 poorest-rated states voted in McCain's favor, 55.7 to 44.3
The rest favored Obama, 54.4 to 45.6
Firearm Death Rates
The 10 poorest-rated states voted in McCain's favor, 56.3 to 43.7
The rest favored Obama, 54.6 to 45.4
Average Birth Weights
The 10 poorest-rated states voted in McCain's favor, 53.6 to 46.4
The rest favored Obama, 54.8 to 45.2
Expenditure Per Student (scroll down)
The 10 poorest-rated states voted in McCain's favor, 54.6 to 45.4
The rest favored Obama, 55.0 to 45.0
Divorce Rates
The 10 poorest-rated states voted in McCain's favor, 53.9 to 46.1
The rest favored Obama, 54.7 to 45.3
UPDATE: I have added links, in some cases to a different page than I had previously uncovered, but I am trying to respond to requests. I don't have the time to pore through every result to make sure it matches (as I was unable to uncover some of the data sources in my reinvestigation). The truth is that the contrast is universal, people in a number of places are voting against their interests and they are the ones who can least afford to.