The shifting tides of red and blue

David Sparks created a fascinating little animation with an abstruse name, the Isarithmic history of the two party vote, which really means that he's overlaying another dimension (voting patterns) on top of a regular map. Just watch it. It makes sense.

The fun parts are watching the ultimate mandate of Roosevelt (who Republicans now like to pretend wasn't popular or right), and the sweep of the "Southern strategy" pioneered by Nixon in the '70s. Unfortunately, it only goes up to 2004, but I'd imagine it could be extended pretty easily.