Maine
4 votes
Kerry - 9 points
The last time this state voted Republican...
... "The Sixth Sense's" Haley Joel Osment was born.
Race
- Overwhelmingly white
Nothing to report here.
Age
Under 45 - Bush
45 and up - Kerry
An exceptionally odd age constellation. Maine's younger voters
actually preferred Bush by two points. Bush did win
twentysomethings in some other parts of the country but almost
never in a state that voted overall for Kerry.
Economics
Working class - tied
Everybody else - Kerry
Another strange result. Kerry won almost every group, but his
weakest showings here were in the working and middle classes.
The lowest and highest income brackets supported him at 59%,
his best groups. A precise reversal of Kansas.
Politics
- Low partisanship
- Slight Democratic tilt
- Low Democratic loyalty
- Low Republican loyalty
- Independents tilt significantly Democratic
More strange stats. Party doesn't count for much in Maine where
38% of the population is independent - a figure well above the
national average. What's more, among those few who are
associated with a party many don't stick to it. Both parties ran in
the mid-80s on loyalty rates. That's below the average for the
fractious Democrats and its the lowest rate for the normally
tight-knit GOP anywhere in the county outside Washington, D.C.
Meanwhile the partisan numbers are almost dead even.
(Democrats have a one-point advantage.) Clearly, the
kingmakers here are the independents. A majority of them
supported Kerry.
Ideology
- Slight conservative tilt
Still more strange numbers. Conservatives and liberals are
almost dead even here. And both have high defection rates.
Religion
- Protestant plurality
- Sizable Catholic population
As in so many other areas, Bush found a haven with the
Protestants here, taking 55% of their vote. But Kerry found his
strongest Catholic support (58%) out of the entire Northeast to
help close the gap. Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and
Pennsylvania were other Northeastern states where Kerry fared
well among Catholics - none as well as Maine, however.
Demographics
- Overwhelmingly rural
- Significant suburban population
The vast majority of Maine is rural and the vast majority of what's
left is suburbs. Kerry took 53% of the vote in both areas. In the
tiny 3% of Maine listed as urban he padded his lead a bit more.
Other factors
A divided populace narrowly approves of the war by about two
points but 53% don't like Bush overall.


The Land of the Blue
Where centrism and progressivism meet