Bush's vote rise in Massachusetts and Rhode Island?

[sethm0]

 As born and raised Rhode Islander (and child of working class Catholics) who also lived in Mass for several years, I'm going to disagree with Walter and Lewis. I think the bump did have more to do with the war and 9/11 than gay marriage and social issues.

 The polls I have seen not only show that majorities in both states approve gay marriage, but also that a majority of catholics in each state do. More importantly, very few people on either side in these states list gay marriage as an issue of high importance. Unlike in more conservative parts of the country, I don't think that many people in RI or Mass determined their votes  gay marriage or similar issues.
 
 Think of everything else that has happened since 2000. Not only 9/11 but the Iraq war - thousands of people from Mass and RI have loved ones serving in Iraq and they may have trusted Bush's leadership of the tropps over Kerry's.

 Regardless, I think we can all agree that this does not signal any major electoral trend, and that both states will probably remain blue in close Presidential elections for years to come.

 ps: On the quesiton of Rhode Island counties, I think the blue trend in Kent and Washington correlates mostly with the development of those counties from farmland to suburbs and the resulting migration of more new/young people to the southern half of the state. It could also partially be the result of a higher percentage of URI students voting in 2004 (URI is near the Kent/Washington border and I know that several thousand more of its students voted in 04 than 00).
 It's difficult to generalize about the five counties, besides to say that Providence is the most urban and Newport/Washington/Kent the most rural. But there are all sorts of excpetions- rural towns in Providence country, urban in Newport, etc.
 Bristol is interesintg. It's made up of just three towns - Barrington (very wealthy), Warren working class) and Bristol (a little of both). It's a reliable bellweather in almost all state elections.