Here's how it broke last night.
Romney did well in two areas: Suburban commuter towns and post-industrial cities. He won the big towns like Salem and Derry (and by "big," I mean they're bigger than many of the small cities). He also won Nashua and held his own in Manchester, two cities that have seen hard times and yet now often end up on national rankings as "great places to live."
McCain did well in three areas: Liberal bastions, cities that are still struggling and rural New Hampshire. McCain won Concord, Keene, Portsmouth, the Upper Valley and the Seacoast handily, as expected. He also did well in places like Somersworth, Rochester and Claremont. He won in the North Country.
If your urban neighbors are liberals, if you live in a small, struggling city, or if you live in a rural community, you voted McCain. If you live in an "up and coming" city or on a two-acre lot, you voted for Romney.
On the Democrat side,
Hillary won the cities with the blue collar democrats, Obama won the cities with the liberal democrats. It's pretty striking. Obama won Concord, Portsmouth, Keene and Hanover. Hillary won Rochester, Nashua and Manchester.
I understand that I have Manchester and Nashua listed as "up and coming" cities for Republicans and "blue collar" cities for Democrats. They're not mutually exclusive. They're post-industrial boom towns, but their union roots run deep. Places like Concord, Portsmouth and Keene don't have nearly as strong a blue-collar base. They're just liberal.
