Nice source. Very data.

Fun fact, that belt from OK to WV represents 8 of the bottom 10 states with the lowest education.

Nobody accused the best nor brightest of doing it, though a shocking number of people in the better and brighter states will vote for the tangerine maroon

So all the shit states.

YEAH, BASED ON WHAT? 2024?

I don't see anything worth keeping, do you?

The states that are red aren't surprising. What's surprising is some of the states that aren't red. Particularly Kansas, Nebraska, and South Carolina.

12 states to avoid traveling to

Which absolutely sucks because WV and WY are a couple of the best looking states(edit: nature wise, not people wise)

Stay strong, Montana.

Sixty percent is quite the bar.

That said, it’s important to remember that a “plus eleven” advantage means there’s still 4 sane voters for every 5 nut jobs, and even 40/60 means 2 for every 3. The inverse is true in deep blue states of course, making it somehow even crueler and more lacking in empathy that Trump collectively punishes blue states.

A persistent structural advantage is not the same as a population of actual humans being a monolith.

People always think Texas is super red, but we're really something like 54% of voters in presidential elections. The districts are so fucking gerrymandered it keeps everything outside of the bigger cities looking red.

It's worth remembering that the northern cluster includes 3 of bottom 5 states by population - this represents even fewer people than ”12 states" implies.

Columbia and Charleston must have done some heavy lifting in SC.

We need to make education a nationwide priority. Our democracy can't afford to have such disparity. And it's not just disparity in education, it's a lot of things. People in these areas had largely been ignored or forgotten about. Trump looked at those people and saw an opportunity. Democrats didn't look at those people at all.

Not surprising....what are the other two?

Well said

We did do that, which is why the Dept of Education that the current administration is destroying exists. Regressives keep tearing everything down and we have to build up again.

We need a cultural shift to value education, oppose violenve, and actually care about fellow humans we haven't personally met before the country will have lasting positive change.

Most of the shit states.

We need a cultural shift to value education, oppose violenve, and actually care about fellow humans we haven't personally met before the country will have lasting positive change.

What if that cultural shift never happens in the deep red states? What then?

I live the uneducated

I don't get Louisiana being red at all. I guess New Orleans is kind of a bubble but from a foreign perspective, it seems like such a beautiful fun city that I would have guessed would lean left

In which year?

..... Then there won't be a lasting positive change?

That's how if statements work

What I mean is without lasting positive change, what? If large swaths of the country are a lost cause that'll just keep dragging the rest of the country down, what's to be done?

You can say this about nearly every red state.

The city does. Travel up Louisiana and it’s just like the rest of the south, but with hot sauce and boudin.

I can see my house from here.

We'd still be better off than ALL the country being ignorant.

This is also why the "red/blue states" thing irritates me. People write off "red" states as useless. And sure, in one sense, maybe. But states can change, and they are, at worst, "currently red majority states". Not "red states".

Most urban is blue - or at least much bluer than the surrounding rural. But even there, no urban is all blue and no rural is all red.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_states_and_blue_states#Purple_states

There are many ways to visualize on a smaller scale that "red/blue majority states".

I mean, it's pretty obvious what happens, right? We die as a country, civilization, and ultimately a species if we can't find a balance

When you have a moment, get an adult to explain you why what you said is wrong. Once you understand it, ask yourself if it was what you meant to say.

What a stupid system where land is more important than people.

New Orleans was one of the largest cities in the US in the 1800s, which is partially why it's such an established and famous city, but now it only has 360K people (after peaking at 630K in 1960). Louisiana as a whole has 4.6 million, so NOLA is less than 8% of the state

What?

I said:

When you have a moment, get an adult to explain you why what you said is wrong. Once you understand it, ask yourself if it was what you meant to say.

Okay.

60% is +20

I agree.

Anecdote time! I grew up in Oklahoma, and when we were learning about addition and subtraction, I asked what would happen if I subtracted a bigger number from a smaller number. Instead of being reasonable and telling me I'd learn about that later, my teacher told me that was a stupid question because you obviously can't have less than zero, and the class laughed at me.

A huge part of Oklahoma history was that it's foundation was literally going back on the promise of Indian Land after the Trail of Tears, and they'd celebrate it's anniversary by getting the school kids to dress up and LARP stealing territory by taking a sack lunch to the playground and staking your claim.

I couldn't get out of that state fast enough.

I'm surprised Iowa and Montana aren't on the list too. Indiana too.

Love them, even.

I think WY has about 37 people.

Grew up in Tulsa, left at 30. It's very different from the rest of the state yet still votes red for state and federal offices. Then they go and elect their first black mayor, a democrat. Weird town. Very progressive in some ways but it's odd to have a large metro area so red. OKC seems to do much of the same, but that's the toilet at the end of the turnpike. :)

Can't find the original article any longer (have a PDF if anyone wants it), but David Wong's "How Half of America Lost Its Fucking Mind" is the best explanation for Trump I have ever seen, bar none. Here's a copy:

https://www.ohiohumanities.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Wong-How-Half-of-America-Lost-Its-F-ing-Mind-edited-and-abridged.pdf

People can scream whatever simplistic single-word answer they want: Racists! Stupid! But that essay really fucking nails it and I think it's important.

Florida as well. I'm tired of getting beat up on social media when the news out of Tennessee is so much fucking worse. It's like people don't actually read the news and get all their opinions from social media. What a poisonous way to learn about the world.

Yep. You have to drill down to the county level so see truly wild disparities. Fuck me, even Mississippi has blue counties.

Check the maps in this article.