Election returns.(reports of election results)

Most election results are known very shortly after an election. But others take time to unearth. Rhodes Cook, one of Washington's best political analysts, has looked at county-level data and has come up with some fascinating results. Resort areas such as Aspen, Colorado live up to the liberal stereotype we associate with them. They voted heavily Democratic in 2004. So, too, academic centers like Cambridge, Massachusetts. Politicians often ask whether a new idea will"play in Peoria." As the data below show, people in Peoria, like the nation as a whole, are split down the middle.

Liberal vacation spots like Provincetown and Aspen were firmly in Kerry's column, while Bush won both the folksy Branson and upscale Hilton Head.

 
Liberal resorts and artist colonies 
 
                          Bush   Kerry 
 
Pricetown, MA              12%    87% 
San Miguel., CO             27     72 
  (Telluride) 
Pitkin Co., CO              30     68 
  (Aspen) 
 
Republican resorts 
 
Taney Co., MO              70%    29% 
  (Branson) 
Moore Co., NC               64     35 
  (Pinehurst) 
Beaufort Co., SC            60     39 
  (Hilton Head) 
 
The 2004 election showed that not all suburban voters think alike. 
Geographic location matters more. Kerry won many suburbs in the 
snowy north while Bush fared better in warm, southern ones. 
 
Frost belt suburbs 
 
Prince George's Co., MD    17%    82% 
MontgomerY MD Co.,          33     66 
 
Sun belt ...