Friday, September 5, 2008

Where can I find "real Americans"?

Paul Krugman gets it right:
"please, can we get over the idea that small towns in the heartland are the “real America”? A long time ago I complained when Bush said he went to Crawford to be with “real Americans”: I asked, “And what are those of us who live in New Jersey — chopped liver?”

Today’s America is an overwhelmingly urban/suburban nation, in which a majority of the population lives in metropolitan areas with more than a million people. It’s ethnically and culturally diverse. Mercer County — which is a lot more than Princeton, which I admit is a bit unreal — IS what America looks like today. And a fine nation it is."

Last I checked, 79% of Americans live in urban areas (the census data is here and the technical definition of "urban" is here). And yet no candidate (not in this election, not ever) has substantive urban policies, only rural ones.

On a related note, what is a "hockey mom"? Looking at the census data I couldn't find that category.

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