Smokers for Obama?

Check out this story on MSNBarackObamaC.com. It's about "Wall Street banks" seducing otherwise benevolent state governments into securitizing their individual shares from the 1998 agreement with "Big Tobacco." Naturally Wall Street is greedy, tobacco manufacturers are scheming, state governors are well-intentioned rubes, and smokers are victims.

Let's ignore that. Of course Wall Street is greedy and state governors were just quietly going about the people's business when slick New York salesmen came and through sheer force of personality convinced those good public servants to sell bonds backed by tobacco settlements to unsuspecting grandmothers (who must turn to cat food since the bonds have lost value as victimized smokers are cutting back).

But I see something quite amusing in the above two maps. Map one is the electoral map for the 2008 election (from FiveThirtyEight.com). Map two is MSNBarackObamaC.com's analysis of states that have securitized their tobacco settlements. Pity those gullible governors accidentally screwing those bondholders. It's not a perfect match but the West Coast, Upper Midwest, mid-Atlantic and about half of New England voted for BHO and securitized their tobacco settlements. Don't worry, I'm not blaming BHO. He had nothing to do with it. I'm just amused by the rough symmetry of the HopeyChangies also tapping evil Wall Street to hose their own grandmothers.