Changing the Political Map- Izzy Lobin

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/is-2016-redrawing-the-political-map/article/2600135

The question asked by the article is whether or not the political map is changing. The political map in an election is the mess of red, blue, and purple states in the union. This is when red shows a state as likely to vote for the republican candidate; blue states are likely to vote for the democratic candidate; and purple states are in between, with the potential to vote for either candidate. The author’s, Michael Barone, main point throughout the article is that the state’s colors on the map have recently changed from being static for nearly two decades. Barone’s primary evidence suggests this is because of the fact that 40+ states voted for the same party in the last four elections, yet this year, several of those, such as Arizona and Georgia, are breaking off from previous trends.

Barone points the cause of this out, saying that Trump and Clinton have changed the norms in terms of voting trends. Whereas white non-college voters have previously been voting primarily for democrats in recent year, they now are leaning overwhelmingly towards Trump, as have older populations. At the same time, Trump’s weakness in the section of college-educated and young voters has allowed Hillary to take substantial leads in Virginia and Colorado, two purple states, because of high education and young populations. Barone’s point is that trends shift and, therefore, the political map can change rapidly and aggressively.

The idea that the political map can change quite easily with the introduction of new candidates and new generations of voters, is extremely important to Americans. This not only confirms the fact that the ideal of indirect government control, introduced in the Constitution, is still relevant in today’s America, but more importantly shows that we, as young Americans, have the ability to change the direction of our country. This is one of the main ideals and cultural beliefs of America, self-governance/indirect governance (as pointed out by Patterson), at work. By changing simple longstanding trends, new voters have changed how one of the most important maps in the country looks.

In the end, an important question to ask is; What longstanding trends do you think the next several voting generations change (including us)? And how will it change the political map, or how politicians from both parties will represent themselves?