Sarah Palin in 2012?

Sarah "Caribou Barbie" Palin has been in the news quite a bit lately. Her address to the Tea Party Convention, followed by media flaps about the "R" word and writing notes on her hand have made her the topic of the week. And of course the number one question: Will she? Can she run for president in 2012?

FiveThirtyEight.com takes A First Look at Palin's Primary Math.

If Sarah Palin runs for the Republican nomination in 2012 -- and I've been on record for some time as predicting that she will -- what are likely to be her best and worst states? And how do these strengths and weaknesses square with the Republican primary calendar? And what about the other likely candidates?

Fascinating analysis... but one of the most garishly ugly electoral maps I have ever seen.

UPDATE 2/14: The Electoral Map has an esthetically pleasing map of the most Pro-Palin states.

Previous Palin Carto-fun:
On the cover of The Week
Putin Rears His Head

HT to Kelso's Corner for the Sarah Palin US map mask illustration.

The Heart of America

Public Option Please advocates for a publicly-funded health insurance program to come out of the current health care reform debate in the United States. The winner of their recent promotional art contest has been announced:



According to the Washington Post:

Amy Martin of Los Angeles, created her striking image of red and blue blood vessels coursing through a map of the United States when she was home sick with the flu, and a few weeks later, organizers said, lost her job and health insurance. “A healthy United States is dependent on healthy American citizens — which is why I presented America as a vulnerable living system.” She’ll spend her $1,000 winnings on insurance premiums, they said.

Via Kelso's Corner

The World According to Ronald Reagan

A little Cold War humor:



Via Kelso’s Corner

#485

ACORN Conspiracy

In Salon.com today, the comic strip This Modern World by Tom Tomorrow, has a little fun mocking Fox News personality, Glenn Beck. In the process, he created a new logo for A.C.O.R.N., the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now.





I love the tentacles squeezing the globe of the Earth.

Dr. Evil would give ONE MILLION DOLLARS for a logo so cool.

Hawaii IS in Africa

Pinko Magazine offers an exclusive peak at Rejected Town Hall Rally Posters, including this one, sure to have been popular among birthers:

GeograFAIL

Via The Electoral Map via FamousDC

Red and Blue Stem Cell Divide

In Salon today: Stem cell division By Peter Dizikes. "The growing blue state-red state gap over this research shows that science has serious economic and political muscle in America today."

Illustration includes red and blue cells, divided, on a map of the United States.

Texas Divided

More silly speculation about Texas... On Monday, I posted maps speculating on Texas Secession. One of the common myths about Texas history is that the terms under which the Republic of Texas joined the United States was that they had the right to secede... well their defeat in the Civil War actually settled that... but one of the terms that WAS agreed to at the time was that Texas has the right to subdivide into (up to) five states!

FiveThirtyEight speculates on how Texas might be divided, and the subsequent impact on the division of power between Red and Blue:



The end result of this exercise is that Republicans could net as many as six more seats in the Senate, and Democrats two. What are they waiting for?

Of course, it would never happen. Texans are too attached to their state's shape to ever consider such an astute political maneuver. There is an entire industry built upon selling kitschy souvenirs in the shape of Texas. It is not to be messed with.

Texas Secession?

Last week, during all the hoopla surrounding Tax Day and Tea Parties, Rick Perry, Governor of Texas, suggested that Texas just might have to secede if they are not happy about taxes.

Picking up on that note, FiveThirtyEight.com has created a little map to illustrate this possibility, and suggest that only Republicans would be sorry to see them go...



In fact, it would seem that Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, has already jumped the gun on that notion. The Huffington Post noticed that the State Department had listed Texas as a foreign country. After it came to their attention, the error was corrected, but not before HP got a screen capture of the list.

This is of course not the first time that an independent Texas has been mentioned here at Cartophilia. (See Roswell, Texas.)

On a related note, the bloboganda blog, tries to explain the name dispute between Greece and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, by describing a scenario wherein a portion of Mexico declares independence and calls itself "The Republic of Texas". Would Americans stand for that?



Of course the solution to that scenario could simply be resolved. The United States could sell the State of Texas to the Republic of Texas, and pay off some of the National Debt...

UPDATE 4/21: Black Maps: For the love of God, let Texas have her way!

UPDATE 4/23: The Electoral Map on Texas Secession: would scenarios be like North Korea or Slovakia?

Aaron Burr for President Leads to a Balanced Italy

Oh, the fun we have finding things while looking for something else...

Recently, Mrs. Cartophiliac returned from a trip to Phoenix to visit an old friend. She posted several photos from her trip on Flickr, including several from this art installation, "Monument to the Unelected".



But wait! says the history geek cartophile, shouldn't this sign...

look like this?

I decided to assume the artist was being ironic or something like that...

So, who is this artist? I wondered. A bit of Googling revealed Nina Katchadourian as the culprit. Wait, I know that name... Of course! Last year I highlighted her piece of map art, Coastal Merger

A visit to her website reveals many other examples of her carto-art, including this piece from a series entitled, Geographic Pathologies

But this reminds me of yet another map...

Chromatic Diplomacy, a variant of the classic boardgame, Diplomacy. Chromatic is five-player variant but on a symmetrical map in an attempt to make it geographically balanced.



Serendipity.

2008: The Year in Political Geography

Patrick Ottenhoff's political geography blog, The Electoral Map, was my favorite site this past year for electoral maps, county voting projections, and interesting commentary.

Here, he has pulled together a mappish Year in Review for 2008:

2008: The Year in Political Geography

View more presentations from PatrickOttenhoff.

Mapping the 111th Congress

FiveThirtyEight.com offers a nice cartogram of the new congress:



Not suprisingly, most states have some red and some blue. There are nine "all blue" states, and five "all red" states. However, while Oklahoma did allow one congressional district to go blue, the Oklahoma Republican Party was proud to point out, in their e-Christmas card last month, that they were the only state where every county went red for McCain:




HT to Patrick at The Electoral Map

Stomp the Gerrymander?

Slate magazine has an article about how mathematics can create reasonably shaped districts and put an end to Gerrymandering. The article includes a slide show of some of the worst offenders. The most ridiculous of them all is the 4th Illinois Congressional District, in Cook County. Actually, if I read the map correctly, the district has to sneak outside of the county, just to connect its norther and southern arms...



Whatever it takes to create a safe district...

Proponents of redistricting reform contend that competitive, geographicaly compact, districts would better serve their constituents. The author points out that it is "tough to find many defenders of the status quo, in which a supermajority of House seats are noncompetitive." That may be true. Unfortunately, the primary defenders of this system can be found in Congress and most of the fifty state-houses...

Via The Map Room

Purple States of America 2008

Mark Newman has already come out with his 2008 Election Cartograms. (Last year I highlighted his 2004 Election Cartograms.)

Take the standard electoral vote maps we have been seeing since election night, and adjust the shape and size of each state for population and you get this:



It gives some real perspective on the size of Barack Obama's electoral vote landslide. However, as we know, in many of these states, the popular vote was very close. Re-color the map to show how the counties voted; strongly for Obama is dark blue, strongly for McCain is bright red, and shades of purple for everything in between...



Once again, the nation is bruised, but carries on...

UPDATE

Declan Butler has his own calculations for a population cartogram. He also includes Hawaii and Alaska (that sort of looks like a squashed bug...)

C'mon, Move to Canada!

"Leaving those red state yahoos behind has never been easier!"





"So, affluent American Elites, what are you waiting for?"

Magazine Roundup

Time for another sampling of maps on magazine covers:

	The Week September 19, 2008 Sarah Palin is having an impact on the election and nation... or is she tearing it apart?
New Scientist September 6, 2008 Talk about your global warming...
	Tikkun July August 2008 What? Do you think new worlds grow on trees?
New Yorker October 6, 2008 Revisiting the classic "View of the World from Ninth Avenue" cover, a "View of Russia from Gov. Palin's Office." For a larger version of this map, see: Strange Maps.

Frowny Michigan

Princess Sparkle Pony responds to the recent announcement that the McCain campaign has "pulled out of Michigan":



I like it because is uses the mittenmorphic shape of Michigan in a new way. Eyes and eyebrows! I love it!

Warning: Princess Sparkle Pony is a political humor blog that my Republican friends will not likely find amusing.

#269

Putin Rears His Head

"As Putin rears his head and comes into the air space of the United States of America, where do they go? It's Alaska." -- Sarah Palin



From the transcript of her interview with Katie Couric on CBS News.

(I don't know who created the image, but I saw it first on BoingBoing.)

P.S. If anyone can point me to a clever use of maps that mock Barack Obama or Joe Biden, I'll be happy to give equal time...

Obumper Stickers

The folks at Bumperactive.com, a custom bumper sticker printing company, are offering 52 state-specific (including D.C. and Puerto Rico) Barack Obama campaign bumper stickers. Sadly, only two of them include maps in their design:



In a previous post, I discussed the "mittenmorphic" attributes of the state of Michigan, as well as the old "Say Yes to Michigan" tourism advertising campaign.

Are there any other good examples of the clever use of maps in campaign advertising? Obama or McCain?

Alaskan Independence?

Sarah Palin, Governor of Alaska, has been selected by Republican Presidential Candidate John McCain, to be his running mate. This would normally call for a post about Alaska postcards, however I've already been there, done that:



Since she is relatively unknown to most Americans (and the media), pundits have been scrambling to find out more about her. One of the most surprising bits of dirt, as reported by ABC News, is that in her early political career she was a member of the Alaskan Independence Party. I was not even aware that there was a secessionist movement in Alaska.

The AIP is generally considered a "fringe party" (by the mainstream media). Their platform includes:

• A belief that "the vote for statehood was invalid because the people were not presented with the range of options available to them" and that "the federal government has since breached the contract for statehood on numerous occasions in over a dozen serious and substantial instances."
• A belief that there should be a vote on Alaskan secession.
• Remaining "steadfastly opposed to environmental regulations and actively promotes the private ownership and widespread development of Alaskan land."

The Party's website includes this cartoon map illustrating they way they feel; the United States is gobbling up Alaska against its will...

UPDATE 9/3: It now appears the the AIP was blowing smoke when they claimed Sarah Palin was a member of their party, although they still claim she did attend their convention, and her husband, Todd Palin, was a member until 2002. FWIW, I don't care one way or the other. I'm just surprised to even learn the party exists. I've heard of other secession movements, and might even approve of some, but this one was new to me.

McGaffin

Steve Brodner having some map fun at the expense of presidential candidate, John McCain, at the New Yorker:



More political map gaff fun...

Iraq-Pakistan Border

On Good Morning America, while commenting on Barack Obama's Middle Eastern tour, John McCain made a bit of a geography "gaff":

"We have a lot of work to do. It’s a very hard struggle, particularly given the situation on the Iraq-Pakistan border."

While I will not likely be voting for McCain, it wouldn't be because of this silly little slip of the tongue. However, the satirical side of the vast left-wing media conspiracy is having a field day. I just enjoy the maps:

Countdown with Keith Olbmermann

Media Matters

CrooksandLiars.com

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart

Matthew Yglesias

Hip Hop is Read

In the interest of fairness, as soon as the vast right-wing media conspiracy mocks Barack Obama with maps, I'll be sure to cover it here.

UPDATE 7/23: Mr. RW Anon (see comments) is making me do all the work. OK, here we go:

I had forgotten about Obama's 57 states comment... in fact I vaguely recall an editorial cartoon that included a map... but I found this one from the Power Line Blog:



"Reader Porter Yates created the 57-state map above in honor of Obama's recent slip of the tongue. The map highlights all 18 states that voted for Kerry in 2004, all 31 states in Mexico, the 6 provinces in Canada that didn't vote conservative in 2006, Jamaica and Cuba (naturally)."

However, I think this new lapel pin is the funniest image to come out of that whole flap:


#224

Let's Clean House With Ike And Dick

The collection of Steve Davis, political memorabilia collector and County Court Baliff, is currently being exhibited at the Dayton Metro Library. “Politics on Display”, An exhibit of Ohio and Presidential campaign posters and more, June 16 – August 16, 2008.

Davis has loaned the library over 50 political posters, as well as, assorted buttons and memorabilia of gubernatorial, presidential and senate races from as far back as the 1920’s to present day. This non-partisan display features both Republican and Democratic candidates including Richard Nixon, James Rhodes, Jimmy Carter, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, Robert Kennedy, Walter Mondale and his running-mate Geraldine Ferraro.

Two items from the 1964 election have, of course, caught my eye: Both a Goldwater/Miller button, and a Johnson/Humphrey poster prove the patriotism of their candidates by using an image of the map of the United States (minus new states Alaska and Hawaii).




#222

North Carolina

Yesterday, I commented on the Indiana Primary. On Tuesday, North Carolina Democrats will also take to the polls. Much of the African-American population is expected to go for Barack Obama, however Hillary is expected to be strong with the Applachian vote.



I only have this one postcard, and I don't have much else to say about North Carolina. It was pleasant enough the few times I have visited.

Indiana: Mother of Vice Presidents

Today's post features postcards from my collection.

Indiana Primary on Tuesday:

Why exactly does the Democratic Party waste its time with an Indiana a Primary? The last time Indiana's electoral votes went to a Democrat was 1964; part of Lyndon Johnson's landslide against Barry Goldwater. The time before that was FDR's landslide of 1936. Should the lackluster Democrats of that state be rewarded with all the attention they are getting?

Who will be participating in the Democratic Indiana Primary? Not just Democrats. Just as in Pennsylvania, Republicans plan to cross-over and vote, and not all of them are Dittoheads. The New York Times has a story about an Obomican... A Republican planning to vote for Obama.

Nevertheless, Tuesday's Primary could... maybe... just possibly... be the end of the race between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton... I'm not betting the farm on that one...

Famous Hoosiers:

• Larry Bird
• David Letterman
• Red Skelton
• John Cougar Mellencamp
• Steve McQueen
• Kurt Vonnegut
• Florence Henderson

Always a bridesmaid, never a bride...

There have been five men from Indiana who have been elected vice president: Schuyler Colfax, Thomas A. Hendricks, Charles W. Fairbanks, Thomas Marshall and Dan Quayle. They have earned Indiana the nickname "Mother of Vice Presidents."

Due to family connections, I visit Indianapolis often.

Some things I like about Indianapolis:

• Childrens Museum of Indianapolis
• Indiana Firebirds (defunct)
• Rathskeller the best sauerbraten I've tasted in 20 years!
• The Arsenal Game Room
• Their new Central Library
• GenCon Indy
• Circle Center downtown mall