Most liberal/most conservative states

[Alcon]

Not enough data: Utah, D.C.
Based on self-identification on 2008 exit polls

States with most liberal Obama voters
1. Massachusetts - 46.6%
2. New York - 45.8%
3. Minnesota - 44.3%
4. Washington - 44.1%
5. Vermont - 44.0%
6. Connecticut - 42.7%
7. New Hampshire - 42.2%
8. Maine - 41.3%
9. Rhode Island - 40.4%
10. Oregon - 40.1%
...
40. West Virginia - 30.2%
41. North Dakota - 29.9%
42. Texas - 29.8%
43. Kentucky - 29.8%
44. Mississippi - 29.1%
45. Arkansas - 27.2%
46. South Dakota - 27.0%
47. Alabama - 25.1%
48. Wyoming - 24.1%
49. Georgia - 23.5%

States with most conservative McCain voters
1. Mississippi - 66.9%
2. Oregon - 66.8%
3. Washington - 65.3%
4. Texas - 65.0%
5. Idaho - 64.4%
6. Tennessee - 64.1%
7. Arkansas - 63.0%
8. Alabama - 63.0%
9. South Carolina - 62.5%
10. Colorado - 62.4%
...
40. New Hampshire - 52.9%
41. Delaware - 52.4%
42. Vermont - 52.1%
43. Hawai'i - 51.8%
44. Rhode Island - 51.2%
45. Pennsylvania - 48.6%
46. Maine - 47.8%
47. Maryland - 46.0%
48. New Jersey - 45.9%
49. Massachusetts - 42.3%

Polarization index
1. Washington - 1.09
2. Oregon - 1.07
3. New York - 1.03
4. Idaho - 1.02
5. Tennessee - 1.01
6. Minnesota - 1.01
7. Montana - 0.98
8. Michigan - 0.97
9. California - 0.97
10. Vermont - 0.96
...
40. Pennsylvania - 0.87
41. Kentucky - 0.86
42. Nebraska - 0.85
43. New Jersey - 0.85
44. North Dakota - 0.85
45. West Virginia - 0.84
46. Maryland - 0.84
47. Georgia - 0.82
48. South Dakota - 0.81
49. Wyoming - 0.78

[Linus Van Pelt]

Interesting. How do you calculate the polarization index?

[Alcon]

Interesting. How do you calculate the polarization index?

I added the two together, kind of a lame way but the best I could think of.

[bgwah]

lol NW

[minionofmidas]

This is (self-identified liberal and voting Obama)/voting Obama, and the respective Con table, right?
How does the ranking change if you use (self-identified liberal and voting Obama)/total voting, and the respective Con table, instead?

[Alcon]

This is (self-identified liberal and voting Obama)/voting Obama, and the respective Con table, right?
How does the ranking change if you use (self-identified liberal and voting Obama)/total voting, and the respective Con table, instead?

State composition:

Liberal Obama voters
1. Vermont - 30.1%
2. Massachusetts - 28.8%
3. New York - 28.5%
4. Connecticut - 26.1%
5. Hawai'i - 25.5%
6. Washington - 25.1%
7. Rhode Island - 24.9%
8. Minnesota - 23.9%
9. New Hampshire - 23.7%
10. Maryland - 23.7%
...
40. Kentucky - 12.6%
41. Mississippi - 12.3%
42. Louisiana - 12.3%
43. Indiana - 12.2%
44. Alaska - 12.2%
45. South Dakota - 12.0%
46. Georgia - 11.1%
47. Wyoming - 10.8%
48. Arkansas - 10.6%
49. Alabama - 9.2%

Conservative McCain voters
1. Idaho - 40.0%
2. Alabama - 39.0%
3. Mississippi - 38.2%
4. Arkansas - 36.9%
5. Tennessee - 36.1%
6. Texas - 35.9%
7. Oklahoma - 35.5%
8. Wyoming - 35.1%
9. South Carolina - 34.4%
10. Kansas - 33.8%
...
40. Maine - 21.2%
41. New York - 20.5%
42. New Jersey - 19.8%
43. Delaware - 19.4%
44. Connecticut - 18.9%
45. Rhode Island - 18.3%
46. Maryland - 17.0%
47. Vermont - 15.6%
48. Massachusetts - 14.7%
49. Hawai'i - 13.7%

Liberal McCain voters
1. West Virginia - 5.0%
2. Arizona - 5.0%
3. Kentucky - 4.4%
4. Nebraska - 3.6%
5. Mississippi - 3.5%
6. Ohio - 3.2%
7. Wyoming - 3.1%
8. Oklahoma - 3.0%
9. Louisiana - 3.0%
10. North Dakota - 3.0%
...
40. Hawai'i - 1.7%
41. Montana - 1.7%
42. Washington - 1.6%
43. Vermont - 1.6%
44. Illinois - 1.5%
45. Florida - 1.5%
46. Delaware - 1.2%
47. Iowa - 1.1%
48. Colorado - 1.0%
49. Oregon - 1.0%

Conservative Obama voters
1. Mississippi - 10.8%
2. New Mexico - 9.9%
3. Hawai'i - 9.8%
4. Texas - 9.7%
5. Illinois - 8.7%
6. Georgia - 8.2%
7. Vermont - 7.9%
8. Iowa - 7.8%
9. Ohio - 7.7%
10. Louisiana - 7.6%
...
40. Nebraska - 4.7%
41. Indiana - 4.6%
42. Alaska - 4.6%
43. New York - 4.5%
44. Minnesota - 4.5%
45. Kansas - 4.2%
46. Oklahoma - 3.5%
47. Montana - 3.4%
48. Wyoming - 3.1%
49. Idaho - 2.6%

Overall "ideological crossover"
1. Mississippi - 14.3%
2. New Mexico - 11.6%
3. Hawai'i - 11.5%
4. Texas - 11.5%
5. Arizona - 11.2%
6. Ohio - 10.9%
7. Louisiana - 10.6%
8. Kentucky - 10.6%
9. Illinois - 10.2%
10. West Virginia - 10.1%
...
40. New Hampshire - 6.8%
41. Washington - 6.7%
42. New York - 6.7%
43. Oklahoma - 6.6%
44. Minnesota - 6.3%
45. Kansas - 6.3%
46. Wyoming - 6.2%
47. Oregon - 5.9%
48. Idaho - 5.5%
49. Montana - 5.1%

Overall "ideological faithful" (liberal Obama + conservative McCain + boring)
1. Idaho - 53.1%
2. Washington - 51.4%
3. Tennessee - 51.2%
4. Mississippi - 50.5%
5. Oregon - 49.6%
6. New York - 49.0%
7. Minnesota - 48.8%
8. Texas - 48.8%
9. South Carolina - 48.7%
10. Montana - 48.5%
...
40. North Dakota - 42.8%
41. Pennsylvania - 42.3%
42. Georgia - 41.9%
43. Illinois - 41.5%
44. New Jersey - 41.5%
45. West Virginia - 41.3%
46. Delaware - 41.3%
47. South Dakota - 40.7%
48. Maryland - 40.7%
49. Hawai'i - 39.2%

Liberal Obama minus Conservative McCain
1. Vermont: +14.5%
2. Massachusetts: +14.1%
3. Hawai'i: +11.8%
4. New York: +8.0%
5. Connecticut: +7.2%
6. Rhode Island: +6.7%
7. Maryland: +6.6%
8. Delaware: +2.4%
9. Maine: +2.1%
10. New Jersey: +2.0%
11. New Hampshire: +0.7%
12. California: +0.6%
...
39. Indiana: -20.2%
40. Kansas: -20.5%
41. Tennessee: -21.0%
42. Louisiana: -21.3%
43. Oklahoma: -22.5%
44. Texas: -23.0%
45. Wyoming: -24.3%
46. Mississippi: -25.9%
47. Arkansas: -26.3%
48. Idaho: -26.9%
49. Alabama: -29.8%

Conservative Obama minus liberal McCain
1. Hawai'i: +8.2%
2. New Mexico: +8.1%
3. Texas: +7.9%
4. Mississippi: +7.3%
5. Illinois: +7.2%
6. Iowa: +6.6%
7. Georgia: +6.4%
8. Vermont: +6.3%
9. Florida: +5.8%
10. Delaware: +5.6%
...
40. Alaska: +2.2%
41. Kansas: +2.1%
42. Montana: +1.7%
43. Kentucky: +1.4%
44. Nebraska: +1.1%
45. Arizona: +1.1%
46. Oklahoma: +0.5%
47. West Virginia: +0.1%
48. Wyoming: +0.0%
49. Idaho: -0.3%

Make of that all what you will...

[Matt Damon™]

What would a map look like of these stats?

[Gustaf]

So , Obama did better among Mississippi  conservatives than among New York conservatives. That's a bit odd, but I guess it's got to do with blacks.

[nclib]

So , Obama did better among Mississippi  conservatives than among New York conservatives. That's a bit odd, but I guess it's got to do with blacks.

I think that table measures what % of all voters in each state are conservative/Obama, etc. So this could mean that Miss. has far more conservatives overall.

[Person Man]

Of course this doesn't make any sense. What is "Conservative" or "Liberal"?

[Alcon]

Gustaf + AngryWeasel,

This is a table of self-identification from the 2008 exit polls.

The tables are:

Post 1 (out of the supporters of a given candidate)
1. Percentage of Obama voters in every state that identify as "liberal."
2. Percentage of McCain voters in every state that identify as "conservative."
3. Those two numbers added together.

Post 2 (out of all voters)
1. Percentage of voters who both identify as "liberal" and voted Obama.
2. Percentage of voters who both identify as "conservative" and voted McCain.
3. Percentage of voters who both identify as "liberal" and voted McCain.
4. Percentage of voters who both identify as "conservative" and voted Obama.
5. Percentage of voters who are either liberal McCain voters or conservative Obama voters.
6. Percentage of voters who are either liberal Obama voters or conservative McCain voters.
7. Percentage of conservative Obama voters minus percentage of liberal McCain voters.

Hope that clears things up

[minionofmidas]

Polarization index
1. Washington - 1.09
2. Oregon - 1.07
3. New York - 1.03
4. Idaho - 1.02
5. Tennessee - 1.01
6. Minnesota - 1.01
7. Montana - 0.98
8. Michigan - 0.97
9. California - 0.97
10. Vermont - 0.96
...
40. Pennsylvania - 0.87
41. Kentucky - 0.86
42. Nebraska - 0.85
43. New Jersey - 0.85
44. North Dakota - 0.85
45. West Virginia - 0.84
46. Maryland - 0.84
47. Georgia - 0.82
48. South Dakota - 0.81
49. Wyoming - 0.78

You must be logged in to read this quote.

Hmmm. Big overlap in the top list. Bottom list, not so much.

[they don't love you like i love you]

I sometimes wonder how weird it must be for Minnesota centrists.