Totally off-topic, but I think I'm starting to see a bit of a rightward trend in the Northeast. Not substantial on a national level, but NJ and RI, and to a lesser degree some other regional states, seem to be picking up R votes a little more than in the past.
Not a big shift -- they're still deep blue -- but interesting to see nonetheless. Similar to the leftward shift in the mountain west and upper plains (MT, WY, ND, SD).
Caveat: VT, obviously, is not shifting to the right.
Well, most of them have trended so far left that it's hard for them to move any further. Vermont, on the other hand, is getting a lot of the far leftists from New York. I expect it to continue left for a while.
My respect for Massachusetts has declined considerably this election.
Why? Because Obama is doing as well as the state's own senator when he ran for office, and no better?
Versus the national average, Massachusetts is moving hard right. Bush got 35% there in 2004 and had 51% nationally. McCain is polling between 37-39% and only 44-47% nationally. So he should be up here much more if he's ahead nationally by 4-5, not polling at 56%.
