John Brummett reviews the 2010 Census, and the stark maps that show the disappearance of people from the Delta and concentration of growth in Central and Northwest Arkansas, and concludes that the state’s transformation to Republicanism is almost assured.
Could be, though I remain hopeful that the extremism of most current Republican officials might give the broad electorate — which polls show isn’t nearly so extreme — reason to pause before rote pulling of the “R” lever. I do think the maps explain, again, how misguided the notion was that Blanche Lincoln’s agri chairmanship carried real political clout. Oh, sure. It meant she could count on money from the dwindling handful of major agribusinesses that control most of the land in eastern Arkansas. But people? There simply aren’t many out there. The declines in population are downright shocking in some of the counties, where one man and a big piece of farm machinery can do the work that once took dozens, or hundreds. Arkansas may remain a big ag state in dollar value of product, but it is not in sheer numbers of voters.