Here comes the data

USA Today ran a fascinating graphic today, showing how each county in America voted.

Okay, go take a good long look at that county voting map.

Now, take a look at a couple of US Census maps (2003 estimates) - specifically, population size and especially population density for counties.

Notice anything? The density map could almost be used as a proxy for the map of blue vs. red counties. The blue counties map pretty closely to some of the biggest Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) in the country. (My wife, the Democrat, suggests that the "MSA" acronym might also be expanded as "Mostly Sophisticated Areas.")