The NY Times has a great editorial by Brent Staples today Why Some Politicians Need Their Prisons to Stay Full. Essentially many of those rural areas that voted for Bush and the Republicans are also dependent upon the prison industry for maintaining or increasing their populations and thus their political representation.

The original research and analysis was put together by The Prison Policy Initiative. Great stuff there.

Just as slaves counted in the census and gave the South power beyond their means, now the prison industry is giving overrepresentation to red counties throughout the country.