I made that observation earlier, and I went back and looked at election totals.

The problem is as you get further from the northeast, the country becomes more rural, and it breaks down almost to rural versus urban. Not completely, as you get further south that matters less. But the point is basically that it's harder to look at things as 2 countries when, as in areas like this, you realize it means you'd be in one and people not far away in another. You have a lot in common, not everything, mind you, but a lot. Why do you belong in 2 countries?

I will echo my earlier point about hating, which Jerz took issue with. It's still there. It's not everyone, not nearly. It's just too many people hating "the other side" for not agreeing, winners and losers. One side accuses the other of being stupid, or biased, or treating them like children, or whatever. My neighbors all already think I'm weird, and they're right, but I doubt any hate me because I voted for Kerry; Likewise, there are a few I'd guess voted for Bush, though they weren't in your face about it. Doesn't bother me. But the hate isn't even at that level, usually. It's easier to hate a large, faceless entity which doesn't think like you than it is to hate the guy that lives next to you, that works across from you, your brother-in-law, whatever.