Purple states are leaning democratic in 2008 election

The Brookings Metropolitan Policy Program held a discussion on the key swing states in the 2008 election with political scientist Ruy Teixeira and demographer William Frey. The men presented “The Political Geography of America’s Purple States: Five Trends That Will Decide the 2008 Election” and highlighted the demographics that would play especially strong roles in the upcoming election. They focused on the declining white working class, who they believe still has a central role to the 2008 election in purple states; white college graduates, who are a growing demographic particularly in Colorado and Virginia, and who are tending to lean democratic, especially in these states; new minority votes, especially in fast growing purple states; metropolitan areas, which make up most of the voter stakes in purple states; and other growing areas of purple states, which have shown democratic trends in the past and are becoming increasingly democratic in the 2008 election. Frey and Teixeira focused on ten swing states, those being Nevada, Arizona, Virginia, New Mexico, Florida, Colorado, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Ohio, and Missouri. According to them, based on traditional trends and upwardly mobile growing demographics, the 2008 election show the “Democrats doing better” in almost every purple state.