Maybe Voting Republican Brings Happiness?

Interesting: Happiest people live in Louisiana, survey shows

The happiest people in the U.S. live in Louisiana, according to a study published in today's edition of the journal Science....

The happiness ratings were based on a survey of 1.3 million people across the country by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It used data collected over four years that included a question asking people how satisfied they are with their lives.

Economists Andrew J. Oswald of the University of Warwick in England and Stephen Wu of Hamilton College in Clinton, N.Y., compared the happiness ranking with studies that rated states on a variety of criteria ranging from availability of public land to commuting time to local taxes.

Oswald pointed out that part of the survey occurred before Hurricane Katrina struck the state, and part of it took place later. Nevertheless, he said, "We have no explicit reason to think there is a problem" with the ranking.

Let's look at the Top 10 Happiest States and see who they voted for in 2008:

1. Louisiana - McCain

2. Hawaii - Obama

3. Florida - Obama

4. Tennessee - McCain

5. Arizona - McCain

6. South Carolina - McCain

7. Mississippi - McCain

8. Montana - McCain

9. Alabama - McCain

10. Maine - Obama

So a full 70% of the Top 10 happiest states are Republican in leanings.

Let's look at the Top 10 Unhappiest States next:

42. Rhode Island - Obama

43. Ohio - Obama

44. Massachusetts - Obama

45. Illinois - Obama

46. California - Obama

47. New Jersey - Obama

48. Indiana - Obama

49. Michigan - Obama

50. Connecticut - Obama

51. New York - Obama

Yep, that's 100% of Obama states as miserable bastards.

In one sense this isn't surprising, as if you were generally satisfied with life you might not feel the need to switch party leanings. Likewise if you were highly dissatisfied you would be more likely to vote for the folks who hadn't been in power of late.

However, if you look at the bottom 10 states all of the iconic Democratic bastions of the last 30 years (New York, Massachusetts, Illinois, California, Michigan) are represented. Also, if you look at the happiest states, only Hawaii could be said to be overwhelmingly Democratic over the same period. Of the unhappiest, only Indiana could be said to be overwhelmingly Republican.

If the people living in Democratic places are so unhappy maybe they should look at the people who have been ruling them for generations now.