[Dr. Sivana]

- He doesn’t have Salt Lake City take charge of Utah plus the surrounding Mormon areas, as they would in such a crisis.
- He doesn’t have significant friction between urban areas and their rural surroundings, as we would certainly see from Chicago, New York City, and Philadelphia.
- He has Virginia take Maryland - why would they want a far-left freak state that produces almost nothing they need?
- He has Texas fighting wars of conquest - why would they want the other states?

You are absolutely right about Utah, and the Mormon territory would be renamed Deseret.
The Chesapeake Bay alone is enough to make Maryland worth grabbing.
You and others are right about rural/urban, but then we wouldn't have a states vs. states story, so we suspend disbelief.
Texas has ocean access, and plenty of cattle, oil and industry. Still needs more water and crops. Louisiana and Arkansas are sensible places to reach out.

[SgtHooper]

The rural vs urban tension is more about small towns against large cities, rather than rural (i.e. farming) against (farming illiterate) city dwellers.