A Curious Correlation

While discussing race and U.S. politics, Digby compares these two maps:

And this one:
.
The two maps are really pretty much the same, if you consider the territories as newly opened land that hadn't yet decided which way to go.Apparently by the time they became Red States, their decision was made.The Blue States are the free ones, while the Red are the slave states. The 2004 map is a 180 degree switch from the old Dixiecrat tradition.See what Digby thinks matches up here.