Boon or Burden?
Throughout the campaign the issue of Obama’s race raised both fears and energy throughout regions of the nation. The African American community, thought to be Obama’s base, was predicted to highly influence the vote. The white south, with assumed racial attitudes, was seen to have a negative effect on Obama’s candidacy. Though this map does not answer whether racial attitudes played a role in the election results, it does provide an interesting view of the Black Population’s geographic strength and voting trends. An analysis of the map illustrates that although the South has a large black population it still voted Republican, although, counties with seemingly large African American populations within the South did vote Democratic. The Midwest, followed a predicted trend of having less black population and voting Republican. However, in places such as Colorado and the Mountain West, with very low black populations (like that of the Republican leaning Midwest) a Democratic win emerged. The East and West Coasts, followed predicted trends of large black populations voting for Obama.