Red states, red books…
We all know that D.C. is as Democratic as they come (to wit: 90 percent of Washingtonians voted for Sen. John Kerry in the 2004 presidential election). So it should come as no surprise that our book buying habits trend liberal as well.
Amazon.com has unveiled a new feature — “Election 2008” — in which it tracks the states buying more liberal or conservative books. And, surprise, surprise: Washington, D.C. buys more “blue” books than any other state in the country (66 percent of all book purchases). Following close behind are northeast states Vermont, Massachusetts, New York, Maine and Rhode Island.
On the conservative front, Mississippi takes the lead in purchasing conservative books (77% of all purchases), followed by Alabama, Louisiana, South Carolina and Arkansas.
D.C.’s favorite blue book of the moment is Barton Gellman’s “Angler: The Cheney Vice Presidency.” As for the rare Washington Republican, they’re buying Robert Kagan’s “Dangerous Nation: America’s Foreign Policy from Its Earliest Days to the Dawn of the Twentieth Century” … and cowering on the Metro as they try to read it without scrutiny.
