- The Red-Blue Divide
- The Urban-Rural Divide
- Ideology
- Media
- Electoral System
- Party Politics & Partisanship
- Policy Issues
- Religion, Moral Values & Culture Wars
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News Articles Archive
This page archives news articles, academic studies and opinion essays covering various political issues and studies that relate to the Red-Blue divide. They are organized by issue category.
(For some of these article downloads in .pdf format you will need to have Adobe Reader installed. If you need to download Adobe's free Reader, click here.)
The Red-Blue Divide
These articles and studies address the nature of the Red-Blue divide that became the popular media narrative after the 2004 election. These opinions come from all angles - some marking the divide and others denying it. Reading these may raise more questions than answers!"Understanding the Geography of the 2008 Election" - Richard Morrill
"Them Changes: The Counties That Switched Parties in 2008" - Tim Murphy and Bill Bishop
"Can Anyone Bring America Together in an Era of Division?" - Stuart Rothenberg
"Is 2008 a Realigning Election? Numbers Offer Some Clues" - Stuart Rothenberg
"Preparing for the first blue president" - Gideon Rachman
"The Triumph of Culture Over Politics" - Lee Siegel
"If Demography Were Political Destiny" - Thomas Edsall
"Election Geography 2008" - Michael Harrington
"The Ghosts of Political Leanings" - Michael Barone
"A New Electorate in the Making?" - Rhodes Cook
"The Three Geographies" - Joel Kotkin
"The Float Vote" - Frank Luntz
Patchwork Nation Blog - Dante Chinni for The Christian Science Monitor
"America's Race to the Middle" - Gerald Seib & John Harwood
"Like-Minded, Living Nearby" - Book review of Bill Bishop's The Big Sort.
"Our 50-50 political world" - Michael Medved
"Throw Out the Maps in 2008" - Michael Barone
"Red vs. Blue: States of Confusion" - Michael Harrington (html)
"How Divided are We?" - James Q. Wilson (html)
"Thinking About Political Polarization" - Pietro S. Nivola, Brookings Institution Report
"The Future of Red, Blue and Purple America: Election Demographics, 2008 and Beyond" - Ruy Teixeira, Brookings Institution Report (Full Report pdf)
"One Nation Divided" - USAToday Part I Part II Part III,
"Seeing Red, Feeling Blue" - Media Research, Inc.
"An Off-Color Rift" - David Barry
"One Fate, Two Fates, Red States, Blue States" - Phil Patton
"A deepening divide between red and blue" - Liz Marlantes
"Beyond the Red-Blue Divide" - Steve Chapman
"Many Americas" - Cathy Young
"A Red-Blue Divide? Hardly." - Steve Chapman
"Divided States of America." - Helen Searls
"Red / Blue Polarization" - Cate Malek
The Urban-Rural Divide
These articles look more closely at the geographic nature of the famous Red and Blue state map.
"Barack Obama's Vote In The Cities Overwhelmed Rural" - Tim Murphy and Bill Bishop
"The High Rise of the First Metropolitan Candidate" - Alec MacGillis
"America is More Small Town than We Think" - Wendell Cox
"Battle for the 'Burbs" - Russ Douthat & Reihan Salam
“Bipolar Disorder” - Jonathan Rauch
“Purple Mountains” – Ryan Sager
“One Nation, Slightly Divisible” – David Brooks
“A Tour of the 2004 Exit Poll: What It Says and What It Doesn't” – Ruy Teixeira
“Blue City Blues” – Blogger
“Winning Small” – Brian Mann
“The Political Gaps” – Drew McKissick
“The Marriage Gap” – Steve Sailer
“Affordable Family Formation” – Steve Sailer
“The Dirt Gap” – Steve Sailer
“Marriage gap could sway elections” - Dennis Cauchon
“Marriage Gap” – Ellen Goodman
“The Fertility Gap” – Arthur Brooks
“The Urban Archipelago” – The Stranger
“A Little Bit Country” – Brendan Miniter
“The Great Divide” – The Austin Statesman
“Where the Brains Are” – Richard Florida
“Sweet Home Omaha” – Richard Dooling
“The politics of female voters” – Jeff Jacoby
“The Realignment of America” – Michael Barone
"A Line in the Suburban Sand" - Gregory l. Giroux (pdf)
"Over the Hedge" - Shawn Hubler (pdf)
Ideology
These articles address the soource of ideological differences.
"Americans Claim to Like Diverse Communities but Do They Really?" - Pew Research Poll
"The Triumph of Culture Over Politics" - Lee Siegel
"The Great Divide, Politically Speaking" - Burt Prelutsky
“What’s Wrong With the Democrats?” – Steve Sailer
“The Urban Archipelago” – The Stranger
“The 40-year itch” – The Economist
“Head-in-the-Sand Liberals” – Sam Harris
“Grand Strategy for a Divided America” – Kupchan & Trubowitz
“Prof. says liberals need not abandon patriotism” – Yale Daily News
Media
“Tell Me What You Watch (And Listen To, and Read), And I'll Tell You How You Vote” – Marty Kaplan
“Packet Politics” – Daniel Henninger
“All Slander All the Time” – John Ellis
“I’m O.K., You’re Biased” – Daniel Gilbert
“Why TV Addiction Links to Liberalism” - Michael Medved
“What’s YouTube?” – Daniel Henninger
“Why Americans Hate the Media” – James Fallows
"YouTube: The new campaign tool" - Charles Hurt (pdf)
"YouTube Becomes Political Battleground" - Mary Clare Jalonick (pdf)
"Political 'Tracker' Is Looking for Err Time" - Sam Verhovek (pdf)
“Liberal La-La Land” – Lorie Byrd
“Kerry's Quagmire: How the liberal media helped re-elect George W. Bush” – James Taranto
“The Damaged Relationship Between Public Life & Media” - Tony Blair
Electoral System
"Cleaning Up a Primary Mess" - Carl Leubsdorf
"The Electoral College: A Misunderstood Institution" - Adkison & Elliot
“Don't Blame Redistricting for Uncompetitive Elections” - Alan I. Abramowitz
“Save the Electoral College” – Paul Greenberg
“In defense of the Electoral College” – Robert S. Sargent, Jr.
“Retaining the Electoral College” – Talking Points Memo
“Innovator Devises Way Around Electoral College” – Rick Lyman
“Tinkering with the Electoral College vote” – Marion Edwyn Harrison
“College Try” – Rhodes Cook
“Table Scraps: Republican losers vs. the Electoral College” – Peter Hannaford
“Regime Change” – David Forte
“Third Time: America may be ready for a new political party” – Peggy Noonan
“Taking the Initiative” – John Fund
“23-Month Campaign” – NY Times editorial
“Change may be in the wind, but incumbents still rule” – Donald Lambro
Party Politics & Partisanship
"Democrats must learn some respect" - Clive Crook
"The Politics of Can't-Possibly-Do" – Daniel Henninger
"White Men Seen All Wrong" – David Paul Kuhn
"The Search for the Next Soccer Mom" – Bowman & Teixeira (pdf)
Policy Issues
“If Democrats Want to Help the Poor...” – E.J. Dionne
“Raise the Gas Tax” – Gregory Mankiw
“Walter Reuther's Ghost” – Wall Street Journal
Religion, Moral Values & Culture Wars
"Americans Claim to Like Diverse Communities but Do They Really?" - Pew Research Poll
"The Triumph of Culture Over Politics" - Lee Siegel
"God's Country" - WJS Editorial (pdf)
"Wars and Rumors of Wars: The Contexts of Cultural Conflict in American Political Behaviour" - Layman & Green
“The 40-year itch” – The Economist
“Secular Fundamentalists” – Cal Thomas
“Theocracy, Theocracy, Theocracy” – Ross Douthat
“Jimmy Carter's Siren Song: Will "Nice Baptists" bring America together? Don't bet on it.” – John Wilson
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