Not big college states

Pretty boy Scottish historian Niall Ferguson, now at Harvard (motto: ennui, c'est nous) sets himself up as the voice of optimism about the US in Tuesday's Daily Telegraph -- there is no latent fissure in the US over politics, despite the bitter election campaign:

Having spent much of the past few months on the road, giving lectures in states as diverse as Massachusetts, New York, California, Michigan and Minnesota, I am happy to report that civil war is not imminent.

But ... Niall, check out a typical state-by-state map for 2000 -- all these states went for Gore, and only the final two show any wavering in terms of going for Kerry in 2004 (and in the end, will probably go for Kerry). And Niall is not telling where he was in these states -- for instance, we doubt that Ted Nugent attended his talk in Michigan.

Niall's audience in Michigan would doubtless have been capable of getting worked up about the Michigan vs Michigan State football game. But if you're looking for a political schism in this crowd, you're not going to find it. Next time, it would be worth presenting the Empire stuff to, and discussing politics with, the Florida crowd that swore a collective pledge of allegiance to Dubya.