I'm not sure where you got the results for Atlanta, but in the 29 county Atlanta MSA, I have the following results:
Obama: 1,096,628 (50.26%)
Romney: 1,057,819 (48.48%)
I think your numbers might also include the counties in the Atlanta Combined Statistical Area?
Checked with the offical census website and I shouldn't have been including Hall County. I stand corrected. I'm not super familiar with the Atlanta area. On paper, it looks too far for commuters, but the growth out there is explosive. What gives?
Oh, it's far, but a lot of people don't really seem to mind an hour-long commute I guess? Of course, while a lot of people
do make the commute from the counties on the outer edge all the way to downtown, it's a lot more common to see people in the closer suburbs having jobs in Atlanta proper, while many people in the outer counties actually have jobs in the inner suburbs rather than the city itself. In Barrow County, I knew a few people who worked in Atlanta, but more people worked in places like Northern Dekalb or the more built-up parts of Gwinnett.
The growth is so explosive because there's that cascade effect, I suppose, where the suburbs themselves become major commuter destinations.
