What Did We Learn (Second Prelude to Part Two)? The Great Divide

Here are few more statistics that I bounced against the election returns with the hope that it might help us characterize The Great Divide. This will offer an even more vivid indication of where my argument is going. My narrative discussion of these stats will follow yet this weekend or early next week.

Most Educated Cities (percentage of population over age of 25 with B.A. or higher)

1. Seattle, WA 48.8 (K)
2. Raleigh, NC 48.0 (K)
3. Washington, D.C. 42.5 (K)
4. Atlanta, GA 41.2 (K)
5. Austin, TX 40.6 (K)
6. Minneapolis, MN 40.5 (K)
7. Charlotte, NC 40.5 (SS)
8. Lexington, KY 39.7 (SS)
9. Boston, MA 38.1 (K)
10. Colorado Springs, CO 36.9 (B)
11. Portland, OR 36.8 (K)
12. Albuquerque, NM 36.5 (SS)
13. Oakland, CA 35.2 (K)
14. San Diego, CA 34.9 (K)
15. St. Paul, MN 34.6 (K)
16. San Jose, CA 34.4 (K)
17. Denver, CO 33.8 (K)
18. Anchorage, AK 31.5 (no county data available) (B)
19. Honolulu, HI 31.4 (no county data available) (K)
20. Nashville, TN 31.1 (K)

Bush = 2
Kerry = 15
Statistically Split = 3

For Anchorage, Alaska, and Honolulu, Hawaii, efforts were made to obtain city and county vote totals, but to no avail. Both states clearly favored one candidate over the other, therefore, for purposes of this analysis, both were given to the candidate who won the state.

Of the two Bush selections, both were in states that went to Bush; of the three Statistically Split cities, all were states that went to Bush. Of the 15 Kerry selections, 6 were in states that went to Bush (where the listed cities were exception to the state-wide vote), remaining 9 cities were in states that went to Kerry (largely because of the population concentration within the represented cities).

It should be noted the Colorado Springs is the home of the United States Air Force Academy.

The Florida city with the highest percentage of adults over the age of 25 with a B.A. or higher is Tampa with 25.4 percent of the population holding a college degree (which ranks 38th nationally).


Most Educated States (percentage of population over age of 25 with B.A. or higher)

1. D.C. 42.5 (K)
2. Massachusetts 35.5 (K)
3. Colorado 33.5 (B)
4. Maryland 33.1 (K)
5. Connecticut 32.9 (K)
6. Virginia 31.7 (B)
7. New Jersey 31.6 (K)
8. Vermont 30.8 (K)
9. New Hampshire 30.2 (K)
10. Minnesota 29.8 (K)
11. Washington 29.7 (K)
12. New York 29.3 (K)
13. California 28.5 (K)
14. Illinois 28.1 (K)
15. Alaska 28.0 (B)
16. Hawaii 27.9(K)
17. Utah 27.3 (B)
18. Kansas 26.7(B)
18. Rhode Island 26.7 (K)
20. New Mexico 25.9 (B)
20. Oregon 25.9 (K)

Bush = 6
Kerry = 15

The District of Columbia, the most educated "state" in the union, gave 1% of its vote to Nader, 9% of its vote Bush, and the remaining 90% of its vote to Kerry.

Keep in mind: Kerry only won the electoral vote in 20 states. 15 of them are in the top 20 most educated states. 19 of them are in the top 31, and all of them are in the top 36.


20 Most Literate Cities

1 Minneapolis, MN (K)
2 Seattle, WA (K)
3 Pittsburgh, PA (K)
4 Madison, WI (K)
5 Cincinnati, OH (SS)
6 Washington, DC (K)
7 Denver, CO (SS)
8 Boston, MA (K)
9 Portland, OR (K)
10 San Francisco, CA (K)
11 Columbus, OH (SS)
12 Kansas City, MO (K)
13 St Louis, MO (K)
14 Cleveland, OH (K)
15 Atlanta, GA (K)
16 St Paul, MN (K)
17 Louisville, KY (SS)
18 Birmingham, AL (SS)
19 Scottsdale, AZ (B)
20 Colorado Springs, CO (B)

Bush = 2
Kerry = 13
Statistically Split = 5

Source: University of Wisconsin. Criteria: Educational Level, Periodical Publishers, Newspaper Circulation, Library Support, Holdings and Utilization, and Bookstores.

In some respects, this may be the most important measurement for the point I will make in the coming days because it includes a number and variety of statistics that suggest not just literacy, but community vibrancy (for lack of a better word) and commitment to lifelong learning .

The most literate Texas city is Austin, number 22 (Kerry). The most literate Florida city is Tampa, number 36 (Kerry).


What does it all mean? Well, I think it means that Bush's "No Child Left Behind" policies will eventually lead to a more educated populace, and, ultimately, the end of Presidents like Bush.