[extropy-chat] Enlightenment and the election

[Mike Lorrey]

--- Patrick Wilken <Patrick.Wilken at Nat.Uni-Magdeburg.DE> wrote:

> 
> On 10 Nov 2004, at 12:04, Brent Neal wrote:
> 
> > Its funny you bring this up. Your maps also lead to erroneous 
> > conclusions, since they do not account for either 1) the population
> 
> > density of the counties in question or 2) the margins by which Bush
> 
> > won.  For a clearer picture, see
> >
> > http://www-personal.umich.edu/~mejn/election/
> 
> I find the purple cartogram at the bottom of the link difficult to 
> interpret. 

Especially as the human eye interprets colors unevenly. Selecting
unproportional tones of blue and red can result in disparate perception
of the map.

> 
> This is a fairly compelling graph of Bush's popularity. Despite
> getting 
> improved numbers in this election its seems clear that the war and 
> other factors have been eroding his support since 9/11 and Bush would
> probably have lost if an election were held in six months:

Actually, given the rising economy, it's likely his support will be
higher in six months. However, a number of factors, some intentionally
wrought by domestic and international Bush opponents, attempted to draw
down his support during the election. It is no accident that the price
of oil has magically dropped ten dollars a barrel a week after the
election, as an example. A lot of the 'problems' that were keeping oil
high have magically resolved themselves since those who kept them from
being resolved have no reason to delay any longer.



=====
Mike Lorrey
Vice-Chair, 2nd District, Libertarian Party of NH
"Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom.
It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves."
                                      -William Pitt (1759-1806) 
Blog: http://www.xanga.com/home.aspx?user=Sadomikeyism


		
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