In 1976, about one-quarter of American voters lived in counties that a presidential candidate won by a landslide; by 2004, that figure had risen to nearly one-half, according to Bill Bishop.
Notes on verification
Confirmed by multiple independent sources (Pew Research, Brookings, Daily Yonder) citing Bishop and Cushing's data. Minor numerical variation across sources due to rounding/data revisions, but overall trend and magnitude are consistently corroborated. [tier=silver indep_score=0.833 clusters=3 claim_tier=notable]
Sources
- Our Reading Guide on Congressional Dysfunction - ProPublica (seed:politics_and_current_events)
- https://dailyyonder.com/caught-in-a-landslide-county-level-voting-shows-increased-sorting/2016/11/21/ (corroboration)
- https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2008/12/02/americans-say-they-like-diverse-communities-election-census-trends-suggest-otherwise/ (corroboration)
- https://www.brookings.edu/articles/the-search-for-the-next-soccer-mom-trends-to-watch-in-2008/ (corroboration)