[knarf]

I've read and re-read this, and I can't get my head around it ... it's almost like one of those "where's the dollar" problems.

Put this on a bumper sticker for us math dummies.

[EricTheRed_VocalMinority]

First of all, I noticed some data typos for what it’s worth:
Kentucky: Obama got 679 thousand votes, compared to 752 thousand in 2008, a 9.6% decrease.

West Virginia: Obama got 235 thousand votes, compared to 304 thousand in 2008, a 22.7% decrease.

@Knarf - Fair enough. Here’s the bumper sticker version: While Obama beat Romney, he beat him with 9.5 million FEWER votes than he received in 2008 and by a significantly SMALLER margin than he beat McCain in 2008. THIS is why I argue the leftward movement of the electorate is not as extreme as it seems and may not even be happening at all.