Connecticut
			7 votes
			Kerry - 10 points
			The last time this state voted Republican....
			... Johnny Carson hosted his last "Tonight Show".
			Race
			- Overwhelmingly white - Small Latino population
			Whites narrowly backed Kerry here. The small Latino population supported him by 3-1.
			Age
			Seniors - Bush Everbody else - Kerry
			By 11 points, senior citizens preferred four more years but every other group backed Kerry, midlifers by a significant margin, youths by a landslide.
			Economics
			Lower and lower middle classes - Kerry Upper middle class - Bush 100,000-150,000 per year - Kerry Richest voters - Bush
			A pattern similar to that seen in some other states. Strong support for Kerry in the lower and lower middle classes, shrinking until about $75,000 when it reverses to Bush. But at $100,000, it reverses again and strongly backs Kerry, reversing above that to back Bush. Corresponding, but not exact, reversals were seen among such voters in California and  especially Colorado.
			Politics
			- Below average partisanship - Sizable Democratic tilt - Below average Democratic loyalty - Below average Republican loyalty - Independents tilt significantly Democratic
			Loyalty runs a hair below average for both parties here. Kerry's margin is the result of a seven-point Democratic tilt and a 17-point advantage among independents who represent a third of Connecticut voters.
			Ideology
			- Slight liberal tilt
			One of the rare states where the left slightly outnumbers the right - by 2 points. But half of Connecticut voters are moderates and a majority of them voted Kerry. Even among committed ideologues loyalty to their side of the aisle was significantly higher among liberals than conservatives.
			Religion
			- Predominantly Catholic - Large Protestant population
			As in several northeastern states, Catholics, who make up nearly half of the population, outnumber Protestants. Also as in several northeastern states, they were less friendly to Kerry than in other blue states. Instead Kerry was powered to victory by Protestants, not Catholics, a phenomenon seen nowhere outside the Northeast, except Hawaii. New York, New Jersey and Maryland provide similar examples of this strange Catholic/Protestant reversal. Margins among both groups were not overwhelming however in Connecticut. Bush and Kerry won by single digits among each demographic.
			Demographics
			- Suburban majority - Significant urban and rural populations
			A majority of the state is suburban and Kerry won here by 16 points, a lead buttressed by an urban turnout that supported him by a similar margin. Rural areas, representing less than a fifth of the state, were badly outnumbered. Even then they supported Bush only weakly - by a meager five points. While regional differences showed, Kerry enjoyed semi-uniform support across the state spiking somewhat in the more urbanized areas.
			Other factors
			People disapprove of both Bush and the war by six points. Perhaps just as telling, of those who dislike Bush, most dislike him intensely with 42% expressing "strong" disapproval.

The Land of the Blue

Where centrism and progressivism meet