My guess is that the boomers are just bad people, probably because they were the first generation to grow up under the threat of nuclear annihilation.

To address the original proposition, however, this may be a chicken v. egg problem.  Perhaps rural Red-Staters more likely to vote Red because they do not have access to the variety of source material high-speed internet access offers.  

As a person with extensive "field" campaign experience, I'm currently mulling over this issue from a operative's perspective.  Much of the use of technology in political campaigns now depends upon high-speed internet access, both for reaching out to potential voters, as well as the logistics of running a campaign.  So how to run your technology dependent campaign in areas beyond the DSL beltway?

So I'm writing a white paper as I sit here on the beach in Cape Hatteras (planning our move to Katrina areas) on the potential uses of high-speed mobile satellite internet.  Essentially, a field office in a box, providing low-cost wireless internet and VoIP cabability set up in less than an hour, versus the days, or even weeks, (not to mention money) it takes to get phone and internet in remote areas with targeted populations.  Pair the mobile satellite with a trailer, and you have a mobile campaign office, which you can to take to your volunteers and/or potential financial supporter/voters, rather than requiring them to trek to their nearest field office.  Anyway, I can't go into more detail, as the kids are clamoring to head out.  But I'll hopefully finish it soon, and make it available to anyone I know who wants it.

Blogsophere >> Primary Voters >> General Election Voters

I'd bet $100 that the mirror image is true on the Right.

Take the "housing bubble". Cheap interest rates have made home loans more affordable.

In rural and exurban areas, land is cheap and people build houses. This policy helps families because more people can afford a home. Housing prices rise slightly, but once interest is calculated in, monthly payments do not.

In urban areas, all the land is taken, and prices skyrocket. Those who have houses benefit, but those who don't are either shut out of the market, or are paying exhorbitant prices for homes.

In urban areas, gas taxes may pay for mass transit and keep cars of the roads. In rural areas, gas taxes make it more expensive to do your job.

In urban areas, laws have to be enacted that may encroach on people's liberties so that everyone can get along. In rural areas, people have the space to do a lot of what they want.

As someone who grew up in a small Southern city, I have plenty of experience with minorities. (Not that we don't have racial problems, but the South is much more integrated than many non-Southerners think.) However, the lifestyle of a rural, Southern, African-American is considerably different that that of most urban minorities.

For years, urban American has made policy, and rural America has dealt with it. To rural America, the Republican "revolution" is in large part about payback.

Unfortunately, they don't realize how much Republican policies hurt them as well.