The headline: In a surprise in the latest from the “Illuminating America” series from Charted Territory, education does not beat Chlamydia! Education only explains 48% of the 2016 election while Chlamydia still tops the table explaining 59%. However, counties that voted for Hillary Clinton—Democrat counties—do have a 60% higher rate of having a graduate or professional degree.
The details: On average, 13.94% of the population in Democrat (“Clinton”) counties have graduate or professional degree compared with 8.70 % in Republican (“Trump”) counties. The previous top explanation variable—opinion of climate change—has been removed from the Illustrating America list since (sadly) it is more of an opinion-based political variable rather than an ostensibly independent variable. This leaves Chlamydia as the variable that best explains the 2016 election so far!
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