The elections are over, and George W. Bush was (re-) elected to the presidency. Despite the increased turnout for John Kerry, and more votes for Kerry than any other presidential candidate before him, Bush managed an even greater turnout and over three million more votes than Kerry.

The electoral map shows a huge swath of red across this country. Seeing that makes me think this country is doomed.

But step back for a moment. Take a look at this map, from the New York Times [interactive version on their site]:

What this map tells me is Bush gets his support from many small counties across the country, while Kerry overwhelmingly wins in the few large counties across the country.

Even in staunch Bush country, like Orange County, CA, Bush manages to win only by 155,010 votes (his largest margin of victory by some 42,000 votes). Meanwhile, Kerry’s largest margin of victory comes from Cook County, IL (Chicago, basically), where he won by 805,857 votes.

This country isn’t divided by Red States and Blue States. No. It’s divided by Big Cities and Rural Counties. It’s not which state do I live in, it’s what city.

For example, you won’t see me moving to the O.C. anytime soon….