From Steven Greenhut:
Blogger Patrick Ruffini (hat tip to Lew Rockwell and Andrew Sullivan) shows where libertarian GOP candidate Ron Paul’s support is coming from, geographically speaking. One commenter wisely sees a correlation to the old Sagebrush Rebellion — the 1980s Western pro-property-rights movement that helped bring Ronald Reagan to the White House. The heart and soul of his movement is in the Intermountain West and to a lesser extent upper New England. Ron Paul’s weakest areas are in the Bible Belt — the Deep South and the Ohio River Valley. The Ohio River region also is union country. The strength of the Paul movement closely tracks the strength of the libertarian/pro-freedom movement. The West has long had a “leave us alone” attitude, despite the influx of aesthetically minded environmentalists to the region. The Deep South is socially conservative but not libertarian. Consider the policies of candidate Mike Huckabee, a religious conservative who supports many Nanny State policies that use government to promote health and clean living. This reinforces the huge divide in the old Reagan coalition — a divide that big-government lefties will use to retake the White House.
