The Republicans Failed To Win the Dead Microscopic Sea Creature Vote

November 8, 2012 5:50 AM

Plankton that died in an ancient ocean over 100 million years ago may help explain why a thin blue line of counties that consistently votes Democratic exists in the South.
posted by COD (8 comments total)

Neat-o. Not as far-fetched as the headline makes it sound, though of course choosing plankton as The Ultimate Cause for this phenomenon is sort of arbitrary.
posted by Scientist at 5:56 AM on November 8, 2012

Previously.
posted by dmd at 6:00 AM on November 8, 2012 [1 favorite]

dmd beat me to it! I recently re-posted this to my Facebook page (as anti-GRAR) but knew I'd found it here, and could only remember the title of the strangemaps post.
posted by nile_red at 6:03 AM on November 8, 2012

Interesting; I live in an extremely red county right next to one of the very blue counties on the map and his thesis makes perfect sense to me; both counties are right on the fall line where the ancient beach would have been. The blue county has a large black population and is one of the few remaining Democratic strongholds outside of Atlanta (and just elected their first black sheriff as well as helping return John Barrow to congress). The neighboring red county was largely agricultural until the 1960's and 1970's, when it saw a large influx of suburban commuters, in part due to white flight.
posted by TedW at 6:05 AM on November 8, 2012 [1 favorite]

though of course choosing plankton as The Ultimate Cause for this phenomenon is sort of arbitrary.

I agree. Clearly it's giving credit to that feeble new-comer Biological Organisms while ignoring the immense contributions of Geological Forces to the process. Tectonics is Politics, people!
posted by GenjiandProust at 6:10 AM on November 8, 2012 [2 favorites]

I really wanted to read about how zombie plankton crawled into people's ears, burrowed into their brains and created chemical reactions that resulted in dynamic changes that forced left leaning thoughts by the people so infected. And about how these plankton traveled along that thin blue line via long forgotten, Native American built underground aqua-ducts and were unknowingly ingested during a secret ritual practiced by a regional cult of .... well, you get what I mean. Yes, i was disappointed, but this is still pretty neat anyway.
posted by HuronBob at 6:10 AM on November 8, 2012 [2 favorites]

I too came in expecting mind control plankton but was pleasantly surprised by the content.
posted by vuron at 6:12 AM on November 8, 2012

Slightly more seriously, it shouldn't be too surprising to see how much our decision making is affected by the immense web of connections between us and other people, as well as animals, plants, and even the rock we stand on. I'm not talking about some mystic "we are all one" here (although, if you roll that way, OK), but that we are seriously affected by our environments, and strong and rigid claims of individuality and the primacy of individual agency are just not correct. We all rely on each other, and I'm not sure we have that much of a future unless we address that head on.
posted by GenjiandProust at 6:15 AM on November 8, 2012