A New Hope

There seems to be some cause for hope. I was as crestfallen with the victory of the fundies as anyone, but some signs are creeping in that we came even closer than we might have thought. Take a look at this heartening electoral map of young voters, who-- as it turns out-- actually DID vote in high numbers (the highest percentage in more than thirty years):

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2004/11/4/191246/507

And now that someone has done the work of charting a map based on the vote, rather than the rubbish that is the red/blue dichotomy of the nation, things are looking even better:

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2004/11/4/124352/721

What I'd really like to see is an analysis of population centers overlaid by an electoral vote count. The 'sea of red' represents a pretty small segment of the population-- no matter what hacks like Hannity are crowing about. There's certainly a big fight ahead, but things are looking good for our future. Old-timers broke for Bush, but the young--even in red states-- went for the Democrat. They won by playing to crackpot Christians, but those folks could be a dying breed. 'So let it be.'

I'm thinking that if Howard Dean made a play to replace Terry McAuliffe, we should back him up. Visit his site and sign up for his mailing list at www.democracyforamerica.com. He proved to be a potent force for the Dems even after he lost the nomination, and he isn't giving up the fight. Neither should we. This is my first post-election recommendation.

UPDATE: I finally found a map of the red-blue breakdown that takes population density into account: http://www-personal.umich.edu/~mejn/election/statecartlarge.png.