>The country is indeed split along cultural lines
51% of the electorate voted for Bush, meaning that 49% didn't. About 37% of Americans are born-again Xtians, meaning that 63% aren't. If you look at the electoral-vote weighted map (which is, more or less, population-weighted), the country looks very divided between blue and red, though the area-weighted one looks preponderantly red. They want us to believe in that preponderance, and even the NYT is playing along.
Doug