Life vs. Vote

Sixteen U.S. presidential elections plotted against state life expectancy at birth, 1960 to 2024. Hit play and watch the cloud rotate: in 1960 high life expectancy correlated with voting Republican; today it correlates with voting Democratic.

X axis: state life expectancy at birth in the election year (or nearest year available; 2024 uses 2022 numbers). Y axis: Democratic vote share minus Republican vote share. Colors mark Census-Bureau regions. Sources: presidential vote from MIT/MEDSL (1976-2016) and Wikipedia (1960-72, 2020, 2024); life expectancy from the U.S. Mortality Database (USMDB).

Absurdity, n.: A statement or belief manifestly inconsistent with one's own opinion. -- Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary"