County Swing Map

[Bandit3 the Worker]

I notice Romney did a little worse than expected in places with strong Occupy organization, and a little better in places without.

[Bandit3 the Worker]

Hard Romney Swing Areas
1. Appalachia/Coal
2. Mormons/Utah
3. Corn areas of IL, IN, MO
4. Oil in ND, MT, TX
5. NE WI. I have no idea why.

Obama swing areas:
1. Black Belt
2. Sandy-hit areas (NYC, Jersey Shore)
3. Miami and Orlando areas (non-Cuban latin@ growth)
4. Mexican border areas, from the Rio Grande valley to Imperial county
5. Upstate NY (no idea why)

Also central Ohio and big cities in general.

[Bandit3 the Worker]

An explanation for Southern Ohio?

I live close enough to southern Ohio to know that folks there are sick of Tea Party nonsense. That's why the GOP is doing worse there.

[Bandit3 the Worker]

Here's a stunner: Obama won Harrison County IN by 23 points, after losing it in 2008.

[Bandit3 the Worker]

There more/less than anywhere else in OH? I doubt it. It is a manufacturing area, and many of these counties Obama did reasonably well in (mid to high 40's) last time. I'm not sure offhand if there is much auto-related employment in that region. I haven't heard of much.

The region is largely made up of industrial workers in the cities who work their asses off, plus rich Tea Party types in the exurbs who attack them for not working hard enough. The urban areas voted for Obama, the rural or exurban areas for Romney.

[Bandit3 the Worker]

Does anyone know what would have swung Boston toward Obama?

It's urban and it's a state capital.