Kentucky
8 votes
Bush - 20 points
The last time this state voted Democratic....
... Prince Charles and Princess Diana agreed to a divorce.
Race
- Overwhelmingly white
- Small African-American population
Nothing to report here.
Age
All groups - Bush
The older they were the more pro-Bush.
Economics
All groups - Bush
Weird economic distribution. All groups did vote Bush, but he
polled much weaker among working class voters than among
middle classers on one side and poor folks on the other. He also
did more poorly among the upper middle class than among
groups above and below. No easily discernible pattern here.
Politics
- High partisanship
- Slight Democratic tilt
- Incredibly bad Democratic loyalty
- Average Republican loyalty
- Independents tilt significantly Republican
In this highly partisan state, the Democrats have a four-point
advantage on Republicans. With only 17% of Kentuckians
identifying as independent, that actually a decent margin. But
Democrats can always find a way to spin gold back into straw.
Here it was the horrific defection rate. Nearly three of every ten
Democrats voted for Bush. Meanwhile 92% of Republicans
supported their man. And the indies voted for Bush by 15. Other
examples of terrible Democratic defections include West
Virginia, Louisiana and Arkansas.
Ideology
- Huge conservative tilt
It's a steep 24-point tilt to conservativism here. Plus the liberals
had a higher defection rate. Moderates split evenly.
Religion
- Heavily Protestant
- Sizable Catholic population
Both groups liked Bush. But Catholics liked him less.
Demographics
- Predominantly rural
- Large suburban population
- Sizable urban population
The quarter of Kentucky classified as urban voted for Bush by
five and it got worse from there. There were no significant
differences between the suburban and rural votes.

Beyond a few scattered Appalachian counties and the Louisville
area, nothing went Kerry's way.
Other factors
People generally approve of Bush and the war.


The Land of the Blue
Where centrism and progressivism meet