ForeclosurePulse.com has an interesting map of the parts of the country that are being hit the hardest by home foreclosures. Most of the areas suffering are either in rapidly-growing Sun Belt communities or chronically-depressed areas of the Rust Belt.
This includes the exurbs around L.A., Phoenix, Las Vegas, Atlanta, D.C.* and South Florida, and then suburbs surrounding Detroit. The Great Plains and the Pacific Northwest seem to be the least affected. (*D.C. isn’t the Sun Belt, but its exurbs have the rapid-growth feel of Southern cities like Atlanta and Charlotte)
I’m not exactly sure what this means in presidential politics, but I’d guess that Obama would find less support in areas that are experience the highest foreclosure rates. Voters in these areas might not buy Obama’s lofty promises of “hope” and “change.” They’d rather hear news about jobs, interest rates and gas prices.
But then again, the party controlling the White House will certainly feel a hit at the ballot boxes this November.
Joel Kotkin and the crew at NewGeography.com have written extensively about the impact of home foreclosures and the blight of the exurbs on politics. I’d be interested to hear their thoughts.
3 responses so far ↓
1 Curtis // Aug 18, 2008 at 4:09 pm
I think that the foreclosure areas would favor Obama since this is a demographic hard-hit by the economy. All McCain wants to talk about is war and being tough and war. He is uncomfortable talking about anything that has to do with the economy. “I’ll consult my advisors about that” is his only answer to these questions, and it just doesn’t have the empathy required.
2 Rick // Sep 8, 2008 at 6:44 pm
I would tend to agree with Curtis.
The “moral value” voters (I use the term loosely) have no reason to vote based on other issues until other issues become more important. When putting food on the table, making rent, or buying gas to get to work becomes important, those voters will probably figure out that voting to discriminate against gay people isn’t nearly as critical as it once seemed.
But I do see the logic behind the “be afraid, be very, very afraid” argument as well. Fear works. Case in point: How many terror alerts did we have preceeding the last election? Nine! Since Bush won re-election? None! Fear works wonders.
3 The Electoral Map » Blog Archive » More on the Geography of the “No” Votes // Oct 2, 2008 at 12:36 pm
[...] strange that the Sun Belt states voted against the bill, especially considering that they have the highest rates of home foreclosure. I guess the representatives wanted an insurance program in the package – or maybe they just [...]
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