Dante Chinni
Project Director
The Christian Science Monitor
Dante Chinni is the correspondent for the Monitor’s Patchwork Nation project. Based in Washington, D.C., he has been covering politics and the media for more than 10 years. He has worked as a reporter-researcher at Newsweek and a senior associate at the Project for Excellence in Journalism. He has written for publications including The Economist, Columbia Journalism Review, and The Washington Post Magazine. A native of Detroit and a graduate of Michigan State University, he lives in Washington, D.C., with his wife, Christina, and their two children.
James G. Gimpel
Professor of government
University of Maryland
James Gimpel is a professor of government at the University of Maryland, College Park, where he has been on the faculty since January 1992. His recent research and teaching interests include American politics, political geography, voting and elections, state politics, US immigration policy, and public opinion. In 2004, he co-authored the book “Patchwork Nation: Sectionalism and Political Change in American Politics.” He is also the editor of American Politics Research, a scholarly journal focusing on the empirical study of American political behavior and institutions. Dr. Gimpel holds a PhD from the University of Chicago.
About the Patchwork Nation project
Nearly 305 million people live in the United States, according to the US Census Bureau. Yet in recent elections it’s all been about fitting into two categories: red states that vote Republican and blue states that vote Democratic. But this red/blue breakdown of political opinion doesn’t explain what underpins the voters’ decisions.
That's what this effort, funded by the Knight Foundation, a nonprofit philanthropic organization based in Miami, explores in real time during the 2008 presidential campaign.
We’ve identified 11 places across the US that represent distinct types of voter communities. They are Monied ’Burbs, Minority Central, Evangelical Epicenters, Tractor Country, Campus and Careers, Immigration Nation, Industrial Metropolis, Boom Towns, Service Worker Centers, Emptying Nests, and Military Bastions. For example, Sioux Center, Iowa, typifies Tractor Country.
As the 2008 campaign progresses, the Monitor will write about what issues matter in each of these communities, how the issues affect residents’ votes, and how the candidates tailor their messages to a particular audience.
This site is based on evidence that people’s voting patterns are at least partly informed by where they live. People of the same race and age and family situation may vote differently depending on whom they connect with and what they see on their streets and in their local news. In some areas, people live for NASCAR; in others, residents like opera. Some towns open for business early and some stay up late. Some cities see Sunday mornings as church time, others see it as $30 brunch time or more work time. And Starbucks and Wal-Marts aren’t everywhere … yet.
To grasp how such dynamics shape the vote in various places, we are working with Professor James Gimpel, an expert in political geography at the University of Maryland. He has analyzed piles of Census and consumer data – including race, employment, religion, and household spending – to identify these different community types across America and has mapped them county by county. The map on the home page of this site shows his findings. The data used to identify these community types are available on this site to anyone (see Methodology). We hope news organizations, groups, and individuals will conduct their own analyses with the information.
There could have been more categories. Three hundred million people is enough to generate hundreds of groupings. We settled on 11 that represent enough variances and will still be easy for readers to follow.
On the site, individual voters have an important role to play, too. The Monitor has enlisted local bloggers in each place to help provide regular updates throughout the campaign to explain what issues are important as they form their views of the candidates and the presidential race.
As a site visitor, you can see which community type your county falls into and take a quiz to see how well you fit in. Many counties are still big, diverse places. Some of the most populous ones could match a few different categories. And it’s possible you will not fall into the one dominant in your county. Online bulletin boards are open to visitors who wish to post comments about the campaign.
Although this is a different kind of election coverage, its approach isn’t foreign to campaigns.
For decades analysts have talked about how candidates are products that need to be sold to the electorate – sometimes jokingly, sometimes not. In recent years, both parties have fine-tuned their “ad campaigns” by targeting different messages to different groups of voters.
This project covers the election from the voters’ point of view. We hope our approach can provide a fuller picture of the campaign and voters’ decisionmaking.
Local community writers
Kathy Heicher
Eagle, CO
( Read latest blogs )
Kathy Heicher is a weekly newspaper editor in Eagle, Colo., who has spent the past 35 years observing and writing about local politics, from town board elections to congressional races.
Arn Menconi
Eagle, CO
( Read latest blogs )
Arn Menconi is a commissioner in Eagle County, Colo., and founder of the Snowsports Outreach Society, a sports-based youth development charity that takes children to the mountains. He has two children who are 1 and 3 years old.
Andrew Grossman
Ann Arbor, MI
( Read latest blogs )
Andrew Grossman is a student at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, where he is editor in chief of The Michigan Daily, the university’s student-run daily newspaper. He’s covered state, local, and campus politics. This summer, Mr. Grossman will be an intern at Automotive News, a Detroit-based newspaper that covers the automotive industry. His fifth-grade yearbook says he wants to be a professional basketball coach when he grows up, but now he’s aiming for a career in journalism or business when he graduates in May 2009.
Michael O’Brien
Ann Arbor, MI
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Michael O’Brien is a senior at the University of Michigan, where he is editor in chief of The Michigan Review, a conservative campus weekly.
Ann Dupee
Clermont, FL
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Ann Dupee of Clermont, Fla., serves on Lake County’s Tourist Development Council and is treasurer of West Orange Airport Authority. She was also an 11-year elected council member of the City of Clermont. Ms. Dupee and her late husband, George, published the South Lake Press weekly newspaper in Clermont for 25 years. Dupee was inducted into the Lake County Women’s Hall of Fame in 2001.
Sharon Whitehill Gray
Nixa, MO
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Sharon Whitehill Gray is the president/CEO of the Nixa Area Chamber of Commerce and a self-proclaimed cheerleader for the rapidly expanding Nixa area. She is married to Jim, and they have between them five children and nine grandchildren. Ms. Gray is on several committees and boards and served two terms as Nixa’s mayor. She is affectionately known around town as Madam X.
Roy Delgado
El Mirage, AZ
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Roy Delgado has been mayor of El Mirage, Ariz., since 2000. Mr. Delgado retired from the oil industry and the US Army. He volunteers teaching hunting safety for the Arizona Game and Fish Department, serves on a fundraising committee for Santa Teresita Church, and works for Luke Air Force Base Catholic Community.
Kevin Boyle
Philadelphia, PA
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Kevin Boyle is the legislative director for City Councilman Bill Greenlee, serving as the councilman’s senior adviser on policy issues. Previously, Mr. Boyle served as a policy analyst at the Alliance for Children and Families, the nation’s second-largest association representing child service providers. Boyle holds an MA in education from Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass., and a BA in political science from LaSalle University in Philadelphia. He lives in northeast Philadelphia.
Loree Jones
Philadelphia, PA
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Loree Jones is a former managing director of the City of Philadelphia and former executive director of the African Studies Association, a national nonprofit. She has a bachelor’s degree from Spelman College and a master’s from Princeton University. She spends her free time taking spinning classes, volunteering for charities, and reading mysteries with female heroines.
Carter Hendricks
Hopkinsville, KY
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Carter Hendricks is the senior vice president of community and military relations at the Hopkinsville-Christian County Chamber of Commerce. In his post, he's in charge of implementing aspects of the Community Vision Plan, military affairs, and community affairs. Mr. Hendricks earned a BA in history and political science from Western Kentucky University, and an MA in education from Concordia University-Saint Paul, Minn. He is married and has two children, ages 4 and 6. The Hendricks family enjoys long walks, reading books, going to the YMCA, watching and playing sports, and trips to Disney World.
Robet Goidel
Baton Rouge, LA
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Robert Goidel is a professor of mass communication and political science and the director of the Public Policy Research Lab at Louisiana State University. He has written two books and numerous journal articles examining various aspects of American politics. He also conducts the Louisiana Survey, designed to serve as a barometer of public opinion in Louisiana.
Ed Pratt
Baton Rouge, LA
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Ed Pratt is the media relations director at Southern University-Baton Rouge. He is a former newspaper reporter and editor-columnist. He also served as press secretary for successful gubernatorial candidate Kathleen Blanco (D) and the Louisiana Labor Department.
Kevin Holsapple
Los Alamos, NM
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Kevin Holsapple is the executive director of the Los Alamos Commerce and Development Corporation, a nonprofit that promotes community economic development and supports small business development in Los Alamos and northern New Mexico. Mr. Holsapple also serves on the boards of Coronado Ventures Forum, Los Alamos Sarov Sister Cities Initiative, and the Los Alamos Chapter of the Red Cross.
James Rickman
Los Alamos, NM
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James Rickman is a lifelong resident of Los Alamos, N.M. He was the youngest person ever elected to the Los Alamos County Council. Mr. Rickman writes about science for Los Alamos National Laboratory and keeps tabs on local politics for his blog, the Bomb Town News Observer. He is also creative editor for Mountain Flyer magazine, which covers bicycling in the Rocky Mountain region of the US.
Barton Howe
Lincoln City, OR
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Barton Howe of Lincoln City, Ore., is full-time high school teacher and part-time humor columnist, stand-up comedian, bartender, and mascot. In his spare time he is married to a very understanding woman.
Kip Ward
Lincoln City, OR
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Kip Ward is the owner of the Historic Anchor Inn in Lincoln City, Ore., and has lived in the community for 30 years.
Don King
Sioux Center, IA
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Don King is a professor of political studies at Dordt College in Sioux Center, Iowa. He is particularly interested in what he sees as America’s aimless foreign policy. He is an independent voter and supports electoral reform.
Nick Lantinga
Sioux Center, IA
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Nick Lantinga directs an international network of Christians in higher education based in Sioux Center, Iowa. He loves his wife, three children, and trying new foods while traveling.
