[quote]pushharder wrote:
[quote]jnd wrote:
Pennsylvania is a great example of this. If you look at the red/blue map it appears that that entire state is red with only a small amount of blue. However, those blue areas account for a HUGE percentage of the people that actually can vote.
http://www.us-places.com/Pennsylvania/population-by-County.htm
jnd[/quote]
Precisely. You just made the point that the map is useful, didn’t you?
[/quote]
Uhhhhh. NO- not at all. The state is actually BLUE but most people look at all of the red and cannot understand why it is not painted red. Again- these maps are useless because they do not accurately depict the populations of people living in the different counties.
jnd
[quote]jnd wrote:
[quote]pushharder wrote:
[quote]jnd wrote:
Pennsylvania is a great example of this. If you look at the red/blue map it appears that that entire state is red with only a small amount of blue. However, those blue areas account for a HUGE percentage of the people that actually can vote.
http://www.us-places.com/Pennsylvania/population-by-County.htm
jnd[/quote]
Precisely. You just made the point that the map is useful, didn’t you?
[/quote]
Uhhhhh. NO- not at all. The state is actually BLUE but most people look at all of the red and cannot understand why it is not painted red. Again- these maps are useless because they do not accurately depict the populations of people living in the different counties.
jnd
[/quote]
I think you’re making the mistake of assuming here. I doubt very many people reading this thread fail to understand that higher population centers hold more of a sway than lower population centers. And I’m pretty sure that most people reading this thread fully understand that it is cities that typically determine the outcome of elections.
And, yes, these maps are very useful, and for the reasons Jack pointed out.
If a district tends to “lean red” or “lean blue” they should have a red or blue representative for them in congress. While the entire state chooses a Governor and the Senators, The House is where people can actually be represented.
In my state for example… It’s a very blue state, but my town is very, very red. (Like 2/3’s the vote typically goes for the “red” candidate even in presidential years with high turnout.) However the larger cities to the south and east outvote my town and our western neighbors who are also read. My town (about 9k voters in midterms, so more in presidential years) ISN’T properly represented. Maps like this, and even more so, those broken down by city and town are very valuable when it comes to redistricting so people are actually represented.
In short, I think you’re getting worked up over something that isn’t happening in this thread.