# The official election day 2012 thread: 11/6/12 **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [November 6, 2012, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-election-day-2012-thread-11-6-12/640045 "2012-11-06T04:11:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 49
**Author:** ![a35362](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@a35362](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/a35362)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2012, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-election-day-2012-thread-11-6-12/640045/961 "2012-11-09T03:13:02Z")
We need more Democrats in Florida and Ohio. ---
**Author:** ![lokij](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/5e9695/32.png) [@lokij](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lokij)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2012, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-election-day-2012-thread-11-6-12/640045/962 "2012-11-09T03:36:55Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I’m not seeing a “shift from 2008” button. > > EDIT: Oh, wait, it’s on the left. It is interesting that that Alabama, Mississippi, South Carolina, and parts of Georgia seem to be getting bluer. What is really fascinating is that it very closely corresponds to the so called “[black belt](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Black_belt_counties.png)”. It’s a broad crescent shaped ribbon of rich topsoil deposited over 3-5 million years ago stretching from Louisiana in the west to south centrel Virginia in the north and east. Because of the fertile nature of the soil, it was prime land for cotton plantation and as a result to this day has a much higher than average percentage of African-Americans. I would suspect this old legacy is behind some of the trend you see. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2012, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-election-day-2012-thread-11-6-12/640045/963 "2012-11-09T06:20:53Z")
I saw the densest pattern of red-shift arrows in an arc that surrounds Ohio to the west, south, and southeast. Indiana, Kentucky, and West Virginia. Smack in the middle in densely populated southern Ohio is a definite blue-shift area, which made all the difference in delivering Ohio and the presidency. The red-shift arc has a somewhat less-pronounced extension through the southern end of the Appalachian Mountains from Tennessee (whose state boundaries are actually discernible as the whole of TN has a uniformly high level of red-shift arrows) into Georgia. > [@lokij](#): > > What is really fascinating is that it very closely corresponds to the so called “[black belt](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Black_belt_counties.png)”. It’s a broad crescent shaped ribbon of rich topsoil deposited over 3-5 million years ago stretching from Louisiana in the west to south centrel Virginia in the north and east. Because of the fertile nature of the soil, it was prime land for cotton plantation and as a result to this day has a much higher than average percentage of African-Americans. I would suspect this old legacy is behind some of the trend you see. On county-by-county election return maps, that region was strongly delineated in blue. It really stood out too. 😛 That rich topsoil is eroded off of the Appalachian Mountains and lies along their base in the Piedmont plateau. It fascinates me how the geology of the land produced the biosphere of that land with effects that range even to ethnicity and politics. Edit: [And music.](http://www.piedmontblues.org/) ---
**Author:** ![Kozmik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8dc957/32.png) [@Kozmik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kozmik)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2012, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-election-day-2012-thread-11-6-12/640045/964 "2012-11-10T19:50:21Z")
[Obama wins Florida!](http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-250_162-57548098/obama-wins-florida-final-electoral-vote-count-332-to-206/) ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2012, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-election-day-2012-thread-11-6-12/640045/965 "2012-11-10T21:51:59Z")
> [@Kozmik](#): > > [Obama wins Florida!](http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-250_162-57548098/obama-wins-florida-final-electoral-vote-count-332-to-206/) At last! Our long national nightmare of not actually giving a shit about Florida is finally over! ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2012, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-election-day-2012-thread-11-6-12/640045/966 "2012-11-11T00:14:14Z")
Hey, I live here-speak for yourself. ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2012, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-election-day-2012-thread-11-6-12/640045/967 "2012-11-11T02:00:56Z")
Sorry, man. It’s just that some of us non-Floridian political junkies still wake up in the middle of the night screaming–drenched in sweat–from nightmares of hanging chads and butterfly ballots and recounts. Endless recounts!\* \*Not really. But good Lord, y’all need to get better at this whole “elections” business. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2012, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-election-day-2012-thread-11-6-12/640045/968 "2012-11-11T02:07:43Z")
Well, I can give them a break if it means that froot loops [del][Adam We](http://familyguy.wikia.com/wiki/Mayor_Adam_West)[/del] [Allan West](http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2012/11/allen-west-will-not-admit-that-he-lost.html) is out of the House. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2012, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-election-day-2012-thread-11-6-12/640045/969 "2012-11-11T02:41:04Z")
An interesting map of the geography of the 2012 popular vote: [http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/graphic-geography-of-popular-vote](http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/graphic-geography-of-popular-vote) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-election-day-2012-thread-11-6-12/640045.md?page=48)