It's not a coincidence that the rural county's are red. They typically have the Jesus loving, evolution hating, gun toting types. Now, before you condemn me for saying that, know that I come from a small christian farming town (5k ppl) and have a hard working background. I wear cowboy boots, own guns, hunt, but I'm also a software developer and a nerd. (Weird eh? ). I know why they vote red and it's not because they value education and progress. They vote red because many are Christian literalists and this stems from a bigger education problem. Notice how the population areas of the US such as the ones I mentioned are generally democratic. Notice how those same areas have highly educated women, have high science research facilities and universities, and are furthest away from the bible belt, with exceptions of course.