Cartography
I've been working on some Maine election maps recently and I'll be putting them online soon. In the meantime I figured I'd give a very basic visual overview of Maine's political landscape. The information for these maps comes from election studio mapping software. Click on the images for larger versions.
2004 votes by county
2000 votes by county
College education by county
Median income by county
Population density by county
Population density by town
The top map may be the most recent, but a county-by-county view of presidential votes really doesn't do justice to the political make-up of the state. It is nice to see that much blue though.
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posted by @ 4:19 PM 
3 comments
3 Comments:
Nice work. I think the blue on the political maps have a lot to do with the light blue on the median income maps. The wagon riders will vote for the Democrat everytime and why not? They are voting their paycheck!
Methinks the lack of college degrees has something to do with the blue on the political maps as well. Why would anyone with a college degree hang around a state where the legislature drives good paying jobs out, year after year?
Posted by Bob
Interesting theory Bob, but if you'll notice, Cumberland has the highest median income and is also the bluest. As well, Piscataquis and Washington, the only red counties, have some of the lowest rates of college education.
In any case, a county-level representation isn't really the best tool to judge voting trends. I'll post some more maps soon that look at smaller voting districts.
Posted by Mike
Well bob, you thinks wrong.
The real 'blue' is on the various social welfare checks and benefits and where in the state they are distributed. Portland stands out as the bastion of Maine's ever growing welfare mentality.
Mike almost got it right; I'd like to see a map showing where and how much public and non-public money gets distributed. Me thinks that if one took all this money, and redistributed as vouchers to qualified poor, they would suddenly be making over $50k a year! Health care and housing vouchers have worked surprisingly well on Native American reservations; especially since they put the liberal 'advocates' out of work and put the poor in charge of their own destiny.
....Isnt' that what LIB/DEM's really want?
Posted by fjh