What kind of parties could create this election map?

[justfollowingtheelections]

The question is what would be the ideology of the parties in the map above?  Tennessee is the state that decides the election.  In case anyone was wondering how I came up with this map, the states in green are the most bike-friendly according to the League of American Bicyclists.

[MATTROSE94]

Maybe Brian Sandolval/Lincoln Chaffee vs Mark Warner/Jim Matheson?

[justfollowingtheelections]

I'm not really interested in what candidates could create this map but what parties (and what the ideology of those parties would be).  Blue btw doesn't necessarily equal Republicans.

[Del Tachi]

Perhaps the green party would be some sort of quasi-environmental, urban, technocratic, socially permissive party.  It plays well in the West due to its roots in the environmental movement, and has recently enjoyed new-found strength in places like Northern Virginia and the Upper Midwest due to its rising popularity among the professionally educated.

The blue party probably represents the remnants of a laissez-fair, "big business" party that was forced to absorb socially conservatives within the past 20-40 years in order to remain electorally viable as it lost the West.  Its socially conservative policies allow it to play well in the Deep South ans Great Plains, while its reputation as the party of brick-and-mortar "big business" makes it usually strong in the New York City area as well as Florida. 

[justfollowingtheelections]

Interesting analysis.  I admit that I hadn't thought of those possibilities.

[Del Tachi]

Its interesting to note that this map was produced based upon which states are the most "bike friendly".  Biking (at least in Mississippi) is a very political issue, so (in theory) all one would have to do to produce a map like this would to have a political system where the main dichotomy between voters was the same as the one that exists in debates surrounding biking. 

And, what it seems like to me, is that the biking debate in the U.S. is framed in a "business vs. environment" sort of manner, so constructing two political parties around that dichotomy was the go-to for explaining a map like the one above. 

[justfollowingtheelections]

Yes it makes sense. 

On the other hand Hawaii where I live is a very eco-friendly place but it is somewhat more socially conservative than your average Democratic state.  Same is true for some other solid Democratic states such as Rhode Island and to a lesser extent New York, which are blue on this map.  I was thinking it might have something to do with working class voters (Hawaii and New York are states where the Democrats depend largely on the working class and labor unions, something I would guess is true for Rhode Island as well).  That however wouldn't explain why Michigan or Ohio are green.
I can't explain what all that has to do with biking of course

[Kraxner]

Yes it makes sense.  

On the other hand Hawaii where I live is a very eco-friendly place but it is somewhat more socially conservative than your average Democratic state.  Same is true for some other solid Democratic states such as Rhode Island and to a lesser extent New York, which are blue on this map.  I was thinking it might have something to do with working class voters (Hawaii and New York are states where the Democrats depend largely on the working class and labor unions, something I would guess is true for Rhode Island as well).  That however wouldn't explain why Michigan or Ohio are green.
I can't explain what all that has to do with biking of course

Is Hawaii really more socially conservative?  I heard it was more of a moderate both socially and economically state.

A few hawaii democrats have described mainland democrats as being "batsh**t insane" compared to the democrats in hawaii and that its due to the huge asian american in the state who tended to be moderates that have made the statewide democratic party there more moderate than the ones you'd find in California and Washington.

[justfollowingtheelections]

Yes it makes sense.  

On the other hand Hawaii where I live is a very eco-friendly place but it is somewhat more socially conservative than your average Democratic state.  Same is true for some other solid Democratic states such as Rhode Island and to a lesser extent New York, which are blue on this map.  I was thinking it might have something to do with working class voters (Hawaii and New York are states where the Democrats depend largely on the working class and labor unions, something I would guess is true for Rhode Island as well).  That however wouldn't explain why Michigan or Ohio are green.
I can't explain what all that has to do with biking of course

Is Hawaii really more socially conservative?  I heard it was more of a moderate both socially and economically state.

I read once this goes back to the huge asian american population there which has tended to make politics there very moderate, and that democrats there are like a time machine to the DLC/New democrat brand during the 90s. While the republican party and democrat party being nearly indistinguishable although democrats have a lot of support because the GOP is regarded as a party that is favored by whites. And democrats have been helped by their long sucess of widely popular across the board diverse candidates. Which has created a single party system there.

It is more socially conservative than the average Democratic state IMO.  I haven't been living here long enough of course to know everything about Hawaii, but I would say you are more or less correct.
Hawaii has a rather insular culture, partly due to its geographical isolation but also because of resentment towards American culture among the native Hawaiian/Polynesian population.  The Asian American community here (like most ethnic communities) is more socially conservative and the Native Hawaiian/Polynesians even more so.  Hawaii also has many recent immigrants from the Philippines, many of whom live in ghetto-like conditions in Kalihi who also tend to be quite conservative and uber-religious (the same is true for the many Micronesians that have come to the islands and whose social status is even worse).  Finally there's a huge military presence and they are certainly more conservative than the average person.
There are of course many Left Coast-type liberals here as well (surfers, hippies, new age mumbo-jumbo types, environmentalists who often work for nonprofits) many if not most of which however are white or black and from the mainland.
One of the main reasons the state is so Democratic is that labor unions are really powerful here (Hawaii has one of the lowest unemployment rates in the nation and if I am not mistaken tops the nation in the % of the population that has health insurance).  Obama is of course very popular because he is a local boy, but it's also because 1) he is very Hawaiian culturally (it's not very easy to explain that but to someone who is familiar with Hawaii it is really obvious) and 2) he's not white which makes it easier for people here to identify with him.

[Bacon King]

1) he is very Hawaiian culturally (it's not very easy to explain that but to someone who is familiar with Hawaii it is really obvious)

I'm very curious for an attempted explanation here, if you Dont mind?

[justfollowingtheelections]

1) he is very Hawaiian culturally (it's not very easy to explain that but to someone who is familiar with Hawaii it is really obvious)

I'm very curious for an attempted explanation here, if you Dont mind?

I would like to do that, but I am not sure I can give you a good answer.  The NY Times had a story on this back in '08 that talks a little bit about it (I don't think it's the most objective story since it only focuses on the positive aspects of Hawaiian culture but it's still informative).
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/25/us/politics/25obama.html?_r=0