An interesting variation on a familiar theme:

from economist.com:

AMERICA is unusual in the extent to which its politics is shaped by questions of values rather than economics. Church attendance, for example, is a far better predictor of political affiliation than income. In no other rich country is abortion such a galvanising political issue. In no other rich country do leading politicians feel the need to spend so much political capital on stem cells or gay marriage.
The most vivid images of the way that values drive American politics are maps of the deadlocked 2000 election which show the (red) states in the heartland and the South voting for George Bush and the (blue) states on the coasts and around the great lakes voting for Al Gore. Such maps conjure up a host of cultural stereotypes: metropolitan America versus suburban and rural America; sophisticated America versus Country & Western America; Starbucks America versus Wal-Mart America—even, indeed, the porn belt versus the Bible belt.
A map of the market for pornography that appeared in the New York Times just before the 2000 election bore an eerie resemblance to the eventual electoral map. Mr Gore carried the areas with the highest percentages of sex films in the home-video market (40% on the west coast and 37% in New England and the Middle Atlantic states); Mr Bush carried the areas with the lowest percentages (14% in the South). The two candidates split those areas where sales were middling.

Good luck with the studies, especially you Yalies in Directed Studies!

posted by Matthew Schmitz   [1:52 PM]

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