Point F: the electoral map has been redrawn in a new way in 2008. The Obama campaign saw possibilities in states that had not been contested since 1964. So, first, the 9.25 “states” that flipped, in ascending order of partisan shift (“swing”) over 2004:

St.	BO-%	JM-%	Margin 2008	Margin 2004	„Swing“
OH	51.38	46.80	4.58	2.11	+6.69
FL	50.91	48.10	2.81	5.01	+7.82
USA	52.87	45.62	7.25	2.46	+9.71
IA	53.93	44.39	9.53	0.67	+10.20
NC	49.70	49.38	0.33	12.43	+12.76
CO	53.66	44.71	8.95	4.67	+13.62
VA	52.63	46.33	6.30	8.20	+14.50
NV	55.15	42.65	12.49	2.59	+15.09
NM	56.91	41.78	15.13	0.79	+15.92
IN	49.91	48.88	1.03	20.68	+21.71
NE-02	49.97	48.75	1.21	21.79	+23.00

I have kept the national figures within the table for a point: 7.25 of those 9.25 “states” reflect a larger “Swing” than the national “Swing”. 7 of those 9.25 states were also majority wins for Obama (over 50%).

Here those same states again, in order of winning margin and winning percentage in 2008. It is a statistically extremely rare occurrence when the sort by percent and by margin delivers identical listings:

St.	BO-%	JM-%	Margin 2008	Margin 2004	„Swing“
NC	49.70	49.38	0.33	12.43	+12.76
IN	49.91	48.88	1.03	20.68	+21.71
NE-02	49.97	48.75	1.21	21.79	+23.00
FL	50.91	48.10	2.81	5.01	+7.82
OH	51.38	46.80	4.58	2.11	+6.69
VA	52.63	46.33	6.30	8.20	+14.50
USA	52.87	45.62	7.25	2.46	+9.71
CO	53.66	44.71	8.95	4.67	+13.62
IA	53.93	44.39	9.53	0.67	+10.20
NV	55.15	42.65	12.49	2.59	+15.09
NM	56.91	41.78	15.13	0.79	+15.92

Notice that Obama picked up three states apiece in three regions: in the midwest (IA, IN, OH), in the south (VA, NC, FL) and in the west (NV, CO, NM), again proof that the DEM trend in 2008 was nationwide. There were no states to be picked up in the NE as both Kerry and Obama won the entire NE in 2004 and 2008, respectively.

Within these 9 states are 6 states that narrowly went for Bush in 2004, but also 3 states that went quite handily for Bush: NC, IN and VA – and these states, along with NE-02, make the new electoral configuration so unique. As a matter of fact, east of the Mississippi, Obama's win in 2008 is an almost picture-perfect reverse image of Eisenhower's win in 1952, which is especially interesting since 1952 was also an open election. Just mentally switch TN and NC either in 2008 or in 1952 and the maps are then perfect mirror images of each other (forget DC, it was not an electoral entity in 1952).

Here are two maps for you to see, but if they are not represented properly in your browser, you can also see them here.

But equally fascinating is the coalition of states that usually vote for a democrat in the case of a democratic win, which voted against Obama in 2008: WV, KY, TN, AR, LA and MO. This is the first time in history that a democrat has won the White House without AR or without MO. It is the first time since 1916 that a democrat has won without WV and the first time since 1960 that a democrat has won without KY or TN and the first time since 1948 that a democrat won without LA.

MO was the cliffhanger of the election, and by having split from the winner in 2008, loses its position as the No. 1 BELLWETHER in the nation. OH is now the No. 1 BELLWETHER in the USA.

Here the geographic depiction of those states:

As a matter of fact, four of these five states, plus OK, were the only states in the Union to go against the grain and actually trend more for the Republican Party than in 2004. AR was the biggest partisan shift for the GOP in 2008 (SWING = +10.86). LA posted a partisan shift for the GOP over 2004 of +4.12. TN posted small partisan shift of +0.79. WV and OK both posted statistically insignificant partisan shifts for the GOP of +0.28 and +0.15, respectively. So, essentially, in these two states, there was practically no change over 2004 at all. This block of 5 states represents only 38 electoral votes. This means that the GOP lost ground in states representing the other 500 electoral votes. More interesting is that in two of those states, OK and WV, less total votes were cast than in 2004. Actually, one of the surprises of the election for me is the fact that KY did not also go against the national trend, that Obama actually did marginally better in KY than Kerry did in 2004. Here is a map showing the trend for both parties. Lighter colors mean narrower trends, darker colors mean larger trends. The map says it all: the region that trended from barely DEM or barely GOP to strong GOP cuts a visible swath through part of Appalachia and also the bible belt. Meanwhile, the DEMs trended strongly in virtually all of the west, even where they lost, excepting the home states of the GOP ticket, and even here, McCain and Palin were under Bush's percentages and margins from 2004.

Finally, a compilation of the states that Obama won that were unique to a DEM win, plus the states that McCain won that would have usually gone for a DEM in the case of a DEM win (i.e.: Bill Clinton):

Note that this combination of states is mostly along the Mason-Dixon line...and first in 2012 will be know if the RED/BLUE divide has been truly redrawn or if 2008 was the exception and not the rule.