Patchwork Nation

There are a few places to frequent that have particularly interesting election material. The two websites that have the best state-by-state public opinion information, I believe, are pollster.com and this similar NPR website. Both allow you to see current polling information, and I think comparison of the two can help prevent biased reporting.

But another website I've found of note lately. This is the Christian Science Monitor's Patchwork Nation. While I do have serious reservations about any news source with Christian Science in their name, this is, in fact, a quite legitimate news source. And this Patchwork Nation segment is valuable. It breaks down the country, by county, into one of 11 categories. From Tractor Country to Monied 'Burbs, they've done a pretty good job. They can also tell you the relative strength of any of the eleven categories in any county.

From there, they've gone and used this interesting map towards its logical ends, with updates from specific counties they are following that represent the average in a category. It gives an honest account of the many parts of America that I, in an "industrial center" have almost no other contact.