Delaware
			3 votes
			Kerry - 7 points
			The last time this state voted Republican....
			... Robert McFarlane pled guilty in the Iran-Contra case
			Race
			- Heavily white - Large African-American population
			Three quarters of the population is white and they liked Bush by 10 points. But the African-American fifth of the population pulled Kerry to victory anyway voting for him by a 4-1 margin.
			Age
			All groups - Kerry
			Kerry's support seemed to have little to do with age with all groups giving him wins though not always crushing ones. Those age 45-59 gave him only a one-point margin.
			Economics
			Under $50,000 - strongly Kerry 50,000-75,000 - Bush 75,000-100,000 - Kerry Richest voters - Bush
			The only discernible pattern here is that Kerry solidly won the lower classes while Bush took the middle of the middle class. Starting with the upper middle class, however, (about $75,000) neither candidate seemed to have much of a clear advantage.
			Politics
			- Average partisanship - Sizable Democratic tilt - Below average Democratic loyalty - Below average Republican loyalty - Independents tilt lightly Democratic
			Loyalty runs a few points below average for both parties here. Kerry's margin is the result of a nine-point Democratic tilt and a 5-point advantage among independents who represent more than a quarter of Delaware voters.
			Ideology
			- Sizable conservative tilt
			Conservatives outnumber liberals here by 10 points though both sides sport fairly high defection rates to the other ideology's party. Conservatives run worse than liberals here. Over 20% voted for Kerry. The real power brokers are the moderates who represent almost half the electorate and they skew heavily for Kerry.
			Religion
			- Majority Protestant - Large Catholic population
			Essentially this was a draw. The Protestant majority split almost dead even, favoring Kerry by a point. The Catholics favored Bush but only by six points making for a rarity - a blue state where Kerry lost the Catholics. This solely Northeastern phenomenon is also seen in states such as New York, Connecticut and New Jersey. Presumably other populations provided Kerry's victory margin - though they don't show up in significant enough numbers to register preferences in the exit poll.
			Demographics
			- Predominately suburban population - Significant urban and rural populations
			Thirty percent of the state is rural and they supported Bush by more than 20 points. But the other 70 percent of the state posted similar margins for Kerry. There was little significant difference in voting between suburban and urban areas. The split between urban/suburban and rural areas is obvious in this small state. The northern third of Delaware has almost two-thirds of its population and supported Kerry. The southern two-thirds supported Bush.
			Other factors
			A slim majority disapprove of the war in Iraq. A slightly wider majority disapprove of Bush.

The Land of the Blue

Where centrism and progressivism meet