Red state - Blue State

The above map is the Blue State/Red State comparison from the 2004 Bush Kerry race broken down by county.

As you can see, outside of a few isolated blocks in the Southwest, nearly all the country is red except for the various urban counties around the country.

While I don't have hard evidence handy, I believe most reasonable people can agree with the following comparison between the urban blue areas and the suburban/rural red areas.

The blue areas, in general, have higher taxes than the red areas
They have higher unemployment
They have more crime
They have bad schools

The question that comes to mind is... Why would a company locate its operation in one of these blue areas given the scenario noted above?

It also has me wonder about a couple of other questions. Is a democratic leadership responsible for the issues above? Meaning if we put conservative leadership in those areas would the economic circumstance change or remain the same?

Conversely, is a democratic leadership reflective of the values noted above? Meaning, maybe those communities don't care about reducing crime or having a healthy economic base so they vote for the leadership that doesn't make those things priorities.

When I listen to the liberal elites blast conservatives it always has me wanting to respond; "Look at the map, we don't want our communities to look like yours (high unemployment, high crime, bad schools, etc.) .... Maybe you should consider a change to our governance."