No, that's not President Bush's approval rating. It's the number of counties that voted more Republican than in 2004. From the New York Times:
![](http://www.dailykos.com/images/user/28416/map1.jpg)
That puts in picture form what DHinMI has been analyzing for months, namely, that the Appalachian region is a political enclave with distinct cultural and social characteristics from the rest of the country. And in this election, it's the only region where Republicans gained ground.
If that 22% map doesn't send shivers down the spine of every Republican, this should:
![](http://www.dailykos.com/images/user/28416/map2.jpg)
As DemfromCT noted over three months ago, and as MSNBC notes today, "[i]t's hard not to look at the map ... and not view the GOP as a regional party right now."