A new Gallup survey demonstrates the chasm that exists in this country in 2010!
The red (Republican) states are in the South, Midwest and some of the West–areas with far less diversity, much more conservative, much lower education levels, much poorer in social services, and much more religious!
The most red states are Wyoming, Mississippi, Utah, and South Dakota! 22 states are red, including all states west of the Mississippi River, except Colorado, New Mexico, and Nevada in the Mountain West, and the Pacific Coast states of California, Oregon, and Washington! But Montana and North Dakota could potentially turn blue! All Southern states are red, except for Virginia, Florida and North Carolina, with the latter two on the level of potential turn to red! This also applies to Ohio and Indiana, blue but potential to turn red! Additionally, the border states of West Virginia, Kentucky and Missouri are red, but with Missouri on the level of potential turn to blue!
28 states are blue (Democratic), all the Atlantic Coast states down through Virginia, plus North Carolina and Florida which could turn red; the Midwest states of Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois and Iowa, plus Ohio and Indiana which could turn red; plus the six states west of the Mississippi mentioned earlier, and Hawaii!
Alaska, by the way, is red, but overall one could say that 19 states are definitely red with three others potentially turning blue; 24 states are definitely blue, with four others potentially turning red!
So only seven states are potential turnovers–Ohio, Indiana, North Carolina and Florida from blue to red, and Missouri, Montana and North Dakota from red to blue!
It is clear that the population centers and the major urban states are heavily blue, while the rural heartland is heavily red! This is a cultural, as well as sectional, struggle going on as to the future of the country, and the split in this nation seems wider than at any time since the Civil War!
This is worrisome for a nation becoming less Caucasian as the years go by! How will the country react to the growing diversity of the nation, and the emerging political power of minorities over time, particularly the Latino and Hispanic population, which is already larger than the African American portion of the population?
One can conclude that in American society and politics, there never is now, and never will be in the future, a dull moment! 