Palin's White America
by tristero
Nate Silver has an utterly brilliant post which analyzes, by race, where recent Palin events are held versus Obama's. The conclusion: Palin is speaking to a far whiter swath of America than Obama. But that's not all. Palin is speaking to a whiter-than-average swath of America. (Obama, in general, is speaking to a more representative sample of the population). This places, perhaps, her already notorious "pro-America places" quote in a very disturbing context:We believe that the best of America is in these small towns that we get to visit, and in these wonderful little pockets of what I call the real America, being here with all of you hard working very patriotic, um, very, um, pro-America areas of this great nation.
Nate concludes with admirable caution that this is not necessarily a racist election strategy. It could be simply pragmatic:Since white voters have historically turned out at higher rates than minorities, and since there are probably proportionately more swing voters among whites than among minority groups, one can argue that Palin's choice of locales reflects optimal strategy. Still, the difference between her geography and Obama's is fairly striking.
Equally striking are the stunning charts Nate has at his post. Go on over and give them a look.