what are some of the traditional political divides within states

[hopper]

County Divide

Bergen County in Northern New Jersey is D by the George Washington Bridge but the Northern end of Bergen County is fairly R like between where Route 17 runs between the Garden State Parkway and the New York Thruway by the NJ/NY state line.

State Divide:

Western Jersey Counties like Sussex and Huntedron County are fairly R where as Northeastern Counties like urban Essex and Hudson Counties are D. Somerset County in Central Jersey kind of balances the divide between Western Jersey Conservatism(Warren and Huntedron counties) and Northeast Jersey's(Essex and Hudson counties) neo-liberalism. Basically the west end of I-78 is conservative in Warren County by the PA Line and the East end in Newark(Essex County) is neo-liberal. I don't know where that puts Union County which is east of Somerset County and west of Essex County on I-78 in terms of left-right politics(maybe left of center?) Towns like Scotch Plains, Fanwood, Westfield, and Mountainside are not liberal bastions by any means on the Western Side of Union County. Union County votes D in all elections(State, local and Presidential) but not by the margins that Essex and Hudson does. The Eastern part of Union County has a big Hispanic Population in Elizabeth and is exploding right now in the town of Union.

[hopper]

Here's a cool map of metro Atlanta in 2008



As you can see, there's a core base of democratic support in the city of Atlanta and the inner southern suburbs. This is where there's a ton of black voters and hipster liberals. Then it gets interesting as that blue sort of fans out in all directions from the city along the interstates- this is also where a lot of minority voters live. Then, as you get farther out into the outer suburbs it becomes almost blood red. These areas are white and conservative, and people there only go into the city for Braves games and concerts. And god forbid MARTA tries to expand into their communities.

In terms of areas outside ATL that are white and liberal, you'll really only find that in areas of Dekalb county like Decatur and a few scattered areas of North Fulton where a lot of wealthy northeastern transplants have put down roots.

For the most part, there aren't really any swingy regions in the metro area. The Democratic regions are super, super democrat, and the Republican regions are almost maniacally loyal to the GOP.

as is tradition (in the South).

There aren't many swing voters in the deep south because of racially polarized voting. It exists in GA and it's even worse in Alabama and Mississippi. Black voters feel a strong allegiance to the Democratic party, which is true in the rest of the US. But down here, the white voters also feel a strong allegiance the the Republican party. It transcends class, income, gender and even ideology sometimes. You may hear plenty of white people down here expressing doubts about Mitt Romney, but I can almost guarantee that they will vote for him in November, simply because he's the GOP nominee.

Among a lot of whites, I think that still, even in this day and age, there is the perception that a stealth race war being fought, and with rising black population and prominence, a lot of white people are freaked out. The GOP tapped into this fear years ago and now they have a lock on this vote.

And just an FYI, I am white and was born and raised in Georgia, so I hear these sentiments a lot from white people that they might not say among mixed company.

Rising Black Population? The Hispanic Population is bigger than the Black Population in the US. I agree if you want to say there is a rising Black Population in Georgia.