Chart of the Day - 1.28.2009

Okay. So why is Obama indulging the complaints of these people again?

I count only FOUR solid. They've got Nebraska only LEANING Republican.

I'm with Smiley. Okla-friggin-homa? Home of Inhofe and Coburn? And of my incredibly right-wing grandmother? Nuh-uh. Something was up with that polling.

Arkansas is "solid Democrat"? We went for McCain by 20% over Obama, the biggest margin of all, I think. Sure our Gov. is a Democrat, albeit a somewhat conservative one. And we have a Dem House and Senate, for the moment. But we're not by any means liberal.

"I'm with Jim. Also, Oklahoma? Wasn't Oklahoma one of the states that went most solidly for McCain?"

Oklahoma has been Democratic by registration for many, many decades, despite the fact that they always vote Republican at the federal level.

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I'm curious if the fault here is with Kevin for not explaining what the chart presents, or with the commenters who didn't bother to click thru to find out for themselves...

All well and good. Obama's big task at this point is to keep such a solidly Democratic Congress from overreaching and turning 2010 into another 1994. All of the calls by commenters to "stick it" to the Republicans now that they're on the outs are self-defeating. That's exactly how the Republicans lost the momentum they had gained in 1994 within 2 years. One side wins and thinks it has a mandate, but it's funny how when they execute that mandate to its fullest extent, the public turns on them and gives another "mandate".

Be nice if Obama had the presence of mind and sense of history to avoid that.

Naughty, naughty Gallup!! Doesn't it realize that the liberal blogosphere is utterly lost if its stereotypes are controverted? Without being able to sneer at southern rednecks, what will you do? Perhaps stop being the snobs you continually deny that you are?

Oklahoma has been Democratic by registration for many, many decades, despite the fact that they always vote Republican at the federal level.

So, nominally democratic but functionally republican? As a functionalist, I call BS on those polls. Calling a state "leaning" one way or the other based on voter registrations and how voters "lean", despite how the state actually votes, tells us nothing about the politics of the state. A duck can call itself a lion but if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck...

The implication Gallup is leaving with data like those is that Oklahoma is moving toward democrats. It may well be but actual votes say otherwise. BTW, Oklahoma might just be lagging behind other deep south states which also were once. majority democratic registration.

Doesn't it realize that the liberal blogosphere is utterly lost if its stereotypes are controverted? Without being able to sneer at southern rednecks, what will you do? Perhaps stop being the snobs you continually deny that you are?

Statements like that are asinine. I grew up in the south, was educated in the south, and currently live in the south. Don't be so sensitive.

As a member of the permanent 40% minority in Oklahoma, the Democratic party in our fair state is split 50-50 (I'm being generous) between what the rest of the country would recognize as a Democrat, and a Trent Lott, Richard Shelby type who haven't gotten around to changing their party affiliation.
Along with being the reddest of red states in the Presidential campaign, for the first time in our state's history, we have a GOP controlled Legislature. It will be interesting to see if their governance will resonate with these DINOs and they'll change their party registration. Until the last decade or so, most of the rural Oklahoma elections were still decided in the Democratic primary.

Of course, they could also wake up and smell the coffee, but I'm not holding my breath.

Gosh, well McCain nearly did almost lose his home state according to this chart. And it be nice to shed that guy Jon Kyl for good, (and Jeff Flake).

Obama should never have fired Howard Dean, because that guy did send people to every state in the union, and so we might just be looking at his handy work here.

They might want to check their math on Louisiana.