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Chapter 1
The Political Divide
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Metro and Retro America: two halves of the American whole, and a political challenge for the Democratic Party as it faces the most important presidential election of our time. Historically, how deep does the divide go? Politically, how will the Democratic Party overcome the division and bind the nation back together?
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Clarence Darrow and William Jennings Bryan in a courtroom during the Scopes evolution trial, 1925. © Bettmann/CORBIS
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Download the Full Chapter (4.9 MB) |
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Chapter Summary
The Political Divide
The "Great Divide" is a geopolitical concept we use to organize our discussion of American politics. It views the geographical distribution of political power as a determining factor in shaping the electorate and the two major political parties. Geopolitically, America is two nations. We call these two nations Retro and Metro America. Retro America is defined by the South, the Midwest, and the Rocky Mountain states; Metro America by the two coasts and the Great Lakes states. The existence of these two nations was dramatically thrust onto the American consciousness by the election of 2000; since that time there has been common reference to "Red states," which went to George W. Bush, and "Blue states," which went to Al Gore. Map 1-1, showing the results of the 2000 election, has become an iconic portrait of the political divide at the presidential level.
But a closer analysis of this divide --- the purpose of "The Great Divide" inquiry --- reveals that the divide is not only geopolitical but also economic, religious, cultural, and social, both historically and in the present day. It is the profundity of these divisions that makes the totality of the Red-Blue Divide; or, as we call it, the Metro-Retro Divide.
Why "Retro" and "Metro"?
Looking more closely at the November 2000 Red-and-Blue map, we found that 26 Red states have a consistently high percentage of gross state product (GSP) produced by agriculture, mining, nondurable goods and federal military and civilian facilities. In contrast, 24 Blue states rank high on durable goods manufacturing, finance, insurance, and services in general. Taking into consideration states' cultural characteristics, we classified Tennessee as a Retro state even though its economic rank is Metro, and Maine and Virginia as Metro states. We believe that Map 1-6 represents an accurate geographic approximation of the Great Divide between Retro and Metro America. It identifies 25 states as Retro and 25 as Metro. We chose the name "Retro" because the economies of the Red states tend to be dominated by the extraction industries and low-wage manufacturing and federal facilities; and because they are the home of old-fashioned values and the "Bible Belt," with its pro-life, anti-gay convictions and tendency to be more wedded to creationism than to science. We named the Blue states Metro America because they represent the Metropolitan areas that include both the historic industrial base and the "New Economy," new economic classes, a commitment to scientific innovation, and new ways of constructing the world.
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