Analysis: Rural areas that remain in agricultural production, and have Hispanic or mixed Hispanic/African-American populations may become a new "heartland" regime. The US continues to become a coastal, maritime urban complex as part of its urbanization. The Virginia suburban counties are an outlier, but if Obama presides over the expected growth wave over the next 4 years, suburban voters could be lost to the GOP in places where they consider them locks: Atlanta, I-4 Florida, Indianapolis.....

Could you mean "trounced?" And yeah, I was wondering last night how many of the Romney votes were anti-Obama votes rather than pro-Romney votes.

The GOP had better embrace the Sigma Phi Epsilon branch of its party. They may be morons, but if they read this thread: the Libertarians are for them, not the schizophrenic Republicans. Gary Johnson and his little band of followers may just seem like a bunch of crazy people, but, internally, they are a hell of a lot more consistent than the GOP, they are not racists, and, by rule, don't give a damn about what you do in your private life.

I would dispute the characterization that we are necessarily a country where "people tend to vote positively." People vote one way or the other for all kinds of reasons, positive and negative. Certainly Romney benefited from anti-Obama votes, but the reverse is true as well. I heard plenty of voters interviewed on TV and radio stating that they weren't real happy with Obama, but that they would stick with him because they didn't like Romney at all.

This was a close, but good win for the President, and there are troubling numbers in the data for Republicans, but don't get cocky. The quickest path to defeat in the next election is through hubris over the last one.

This being the first post-Citizens United* election, I'm curious about the elasticity of the vote in terms of dollars spent per campaign. Current estimates show that the final tally will top $6bn in spending.

How many dollars were spent versus how much did the needle move in either direction? Or was there a backlash against the political ads reflected in the final vote totals?

While some conventional wisdom says that big-dollar donors "don't care about dollar efficiency, they care about winning," I think there's a point at which said donors will discontinue feeding dollars into the chipper if there aren't realized returns. (This might also go a long way towards explaining why the horse-race narrative was so important to so many, even as the statisticians were calling this race as nailed-up for Obama. Gotta keep those unrestricted dollars flowing into the advertising bucket...) Oh, to be a fly on the wall in Charlie Koch's office today.

* please recall that this group was chartered initially as "Citizens United Not Timid," a dedicated anti-Hillary campaign.

I heard someone opine that with its looming demographic shift, Texas will soon become a swing state, and eventually solidly blue (assuming the Democrats remain aligned with the Hispanic community).

THAT is what's going to be the issue that eventually reforms the GOP. I see their only hope is embracing the libertarian wing, especially the youth, who are intellectually consistent with the 'smaller government' and apply it equally to social issues.

The evangelicals are going to get jettisoned soon, and as it turns out, they are a demographic dying breed as well (those identifying themselves as 'evangelical' are on a SHARP downturn).

For Tennessee, the only question is- how long will it take for us to catch up with this national trend?

Per this 2002 Brookings study (relying on 2000 Census data), page 4 indicates:

Dallas, 23% Latino
Houston, 30%
San Antonio, 51%

So yeah, I can see 38 more assuredly blue electoral votes in the near future, too.

CNN is showing a LBGT vote of:

Obama 76%
Romney 22%

(Off-topic)

GLBT, LGBT, now LBGT?

Is the order of the characters in this acronym significant in any way, or may I use them interchangeably?

I'm serious. I'm growing older and want to think that I'm still keepin' up okay...

I usually put the 'L' first in deference to my lesbian friends and my experience that hell hath no fury like a lesbian scorned.

I saw an LBGTQ the other day apparently because of the fact that there are several who prefer to be called just plain old queers (or maybe it's queens).

I don't know. I get this way when I'm reading Armistead Maupin and, anyway, God Save the Queens!

Sounds like I don't really need to make any notation inside the back cover of my Strunk and White, then.

Thanks.

(link...)

And also on Slate, Fox and Rove's 5 stages of grief:

(link...)

Romney campaign concedes Florida.

Congrats, stickthrower!

I'm wondering if the GOP voter suppression backfired. How many Romney voters showed up at the polls in battleground states and saw long lines and thought "Screw this. I've got better things to do like creating jobs and tending to my portfolio and besides I don't even like the guy."

I'm probably a little biased, and maybe influenced by our recent trip to Selma, but I'm thinking the people in those lines were thinking "Screw this. I'll stand here all day and night if that's what it takes to have my vote counted."

I'm thinking the national GOP, and particularly the Romney campaign just couldn't, or didn't even know how to, relate to Real Americans. Particularly in Ohio.

Just now WBIR-TV ran that obnoxious American Crossroads Ad.

NPR did a piece tonight about how the evangelicals are losing their grip on political influence. Did they really mean no more George W's or Saint Ronnies? Promise??

It was a tearful driveway moment.

Remember a couple of years ago when that study found that Fox watchers tended to be more ignorant of current events? Well look at Exhibit A.

A few states have done it again, they've pissed off the pope.

Fortunately, he doesn't really hold the keys to Heaven. Fortunately for him, neither do I.

Arizona woman runs over husband using Jeep SUV because he failed to vote in the 2012 presidential election.

Excerpts:

Solomon's husband, Daniel Solomon, told police his wife "just hated Obama" and was very angry he was re-elected and blamed the President for problems her family is going through.

Police said there were no indications that Holly was impaired by alcohol or drugs during the incident.

Wow.