This final map also depicts election results by county, but this time they are shaded according to how heavily each voted Republican or Democrat to illustrate differences within the states to a greater degree. The lighter blue areas represent a democratic majority of less than 60%, while the darker blue regions are areas that voted more than 60% Democrat. Similarly, light red areas indicate a less than 60% republican majority while dark red regions show a greater than 60% republican victory. Once again, this highlights the fact that even in states that vote Republican or Democratic in the Electoral College, there are a range of different voting patterns. The states that are less solidly red or blue could be targets for either party.

The real distribution of voters is not as easily described as the simple state level red/blue maps indicate. The reality is that the voting public is large and diverse within each state and throughout the country. There are certain patterns that may hold in the 2008 election, but nothing is certain and the parties will do their best to target swing states. The margin of victory in many of the battleground states was very slim in the last two elections, indicating that the vote this year could go either way.