Campaign 2008: Patchwork Nation - The American voter beyond red and blue, and how you fit in.

The American voter beyond red and blue,
and how you fit in.

About this project

Project Director
Dante Chinni

Find your community

Your county's community type:

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How do you fit in?

Take the survey to see how well you match up with others in your community type.
Join the conversation in our messageboards.

Daily blogs

Some see a recession, some a depression, but it’s bad all over

8:28 AM EST / 11.21.2008 -

Months of rising foreclosures and weeks of falling Dow figures have taken their toll on America’s confidence. Pick from any number of adjectives to sum up the current national mood – dour, glum, sullen.
But a look at the economy through the eyes of Patchwork Nation’s 11 community types shows how different the localized views of […]

(Read more)

Dante Chinni | Project Director

Evangelical Epicenters /
Nixa, MO

Obama’s Challenge in the Evangelical Epicenter

12:45 PM EST / 11.21.2008 -

On election night Barack Obama reached out to “those Americans whose support I have yet to earn.” If the local reaction is any guide, he has a long way to go in the Evangelical Epicenters.
Although 67 percent of Americans say they are proud of Barack Obama’s election, a significant minority is pessimistic (30 percent) and afraid (27 percent). There is good […]

(Read more)

John Schmalzbauer | Nixa, MO

Campus and Careers /
Ann Arbor, MI

GOPers Look to Draw in Younger Voters in Wake of Loss

8:56 PM EST / 11.17.2008 -

Fresh off an election that witnessed young voters see-sawing toward Democrats, conservatives have begun discussing efforts to win back young voters for the Republican Party, emphasizing grassroots recruiting and organization.
“I suspect that in a post-Bush world and with a lot of hard work, Republicans will be able to trim this deficit,” wrote the Weekly Standard’s […]

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Michael O'Brien | Ann Arbor, MI