Although the "gender gap" gets more attention, the urban-rural divide drives the dysfunction of American politics. The above map shows the outcome, by congressional district, of the 2012 presidential election. If a district was carried by Romney, it's colored red; and, if by Obama, it's blue. From fly-over height, it looks like a romp for Romney, right? But congressional districts all have about the same population, so in rural areas they cover huge areas, whereas in cities they are barely more than pinpricks on this map. Now look at four states: Ohio, Virginia, Florida, and Colorado. These were perhaps the four most hotly contested "battlegrounds," and, though all are almost entirely red, Obama carried each one. How? By cleaning Romney's clock in Denver, Cleveland, Miami, and in the southern suburbs of Washington, D.C. Romney actually won more congressional districts than Obama did (273-262). Since Obama was clobbered in rural districts from sea to shining sea, but won the national popular vote by about five million, you can see what happened in the mostly urban districts that he did win. Where I live, in Minnesota's fifth congressional district, which encompasses all of Minneapolis and some of its inner-ring suburbs, Obama beat Romney by 74 to 25 percent. The fifth district has a border with the sixth, which is much larger in area and was carried by Romney, 57-42.
Put aside presidential politics for a minute and just consider what this means for the Congress, where 435 House members curry favor only with the voters of their own district, whom they face every 24 months. It's a pot meant for brewing up a huge batch of boiling nothing, unless you count the wildly gesticulating cooks.
Since the consequences are so poisonous, it's worth asking why Americans tend to flock together with politically like-minded people. I think there's a self-selecting principle at work. In other words, it's not that something about living in a big city makes you prefer the Democrats. Rather, the characteristics that cause people to choose to live in a big city are the same characteristics that cause them to vote for the Democrats. The comedian Lenny Bruce had a routine about distinguishing "Jewish things" from non-Jewish--
Kool-Aid is goyish. All Drake's cakes are goyish. Pumpernickel is Jewish, and, as you know, white bread is very goyish. Instant potatoes--goyish. Black cherry soda's very Jewish. Macaroons are very Jewish--very Jewish cake. Fruit salad is Jewish. Lime jello is goyish. Lime soda is very goyish.
--and, in the same way, one can tick off "Democratic things." Starbucks. Art-house theatres. Mass transit. Ethnic restaurants with flamboyant waiters. You have to be in a city to partake. Republicans like the Olive Garden.
I don't know what's going on in the NFL, but, as long as we're talking about comic routines, here's George Carlin on the differences between football and baseball. He probably wouldn't be surprised about which one appears to be preferred by wife beathers.
