About that "sea of red" on election maps

Here's something weird and perhaps a portent of things to come: when Democrat Mary Peltola won the Alaska special election for the one House seat the state possesses last week, the "election map" that always looks so red when we are measuring "dirt" or total acres represented by Republicans doubled in size for Democrats overall.

Obviously, Alaska is massive. Yet Alaska represent just one-fifth of one percent of total Americans.

Urban America simply lives closer together and almost all of urban America favors Democrats (though I did see that more Californians voted for Donald Trump than Texans who voted for Trump). 

Let's face it: the urban-rural split is a real thing and it's not going away any time soon. Urban areas are where the money is and where America still resembles a bit of a melting pot or tossed salad. 

If you live in the rural areas of the country it may be difficult to envision just how many fellow citizens do NOT share your experiences, your spacious yard, your dependence on cars, or your familiarity with lots of different people living in close proximity. It may be hard to believe that Democrats could win the 2020 presidential election quite handily. After all, you may know anyone who voted blue.

Vice versa is also true.

But, like gravity, the reality is there and no wishing it away will make a difference.

I read this weekend that something like 70 percent of new voter registrations over the summer were women. I don't know exactly how many new voter registrations were processed since the Supreme Court gutted Roe, but suddenly the know-it-all pundits are predicting a much closer midterm election in November. 

The cause and effect here seems obvious, though I know many Americans don't rank abortion rights as their top issue. But maybe the polls are not as accurate as they think. Women may want to vote more because of the skyrocketing cost of groceries. But would you bet that way?

The very independent voters of Alaska aren't going to have much to do with the vote totals in November -- there just aren't many of them -- but last week's special election may be the clearest indication that Americans may have had enough daily drama and constant anger.

Maybe, just maybe, the show has gotten stale for many of our neighbors.