Shortly after I posted this item, I revised it. The numbers I first posted were radically low. I'm not sure about the source of my error. Probably my failure to update a count I had studied earlier. I have now updated the numbers, revised my main argument slightly, and deleted an argument at the end of the essay that relied on a much smaller total count of reported deaths.
ALL FIVE STATES with the highest number of reported Wuhan flu deaths -- New York (285), Washington (123), Louisiana (65), California (64), and New Jersey (62) -- have Democratic governors.
These five states have cumulatively reported 599 deaths, which is 65 percent of the national count (913).
Of the elevan states with no reported Wuhan flu cases, seven have Republican governors and four have Democrats.
The states with Republican governors are Alabama, Idaho, Nebraska, Alaska, West Virginia, Wyoming, and North Dakota.
The states with Democratic governors are Rhode Island, Maine, Delaware, and Montana.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Correlation is not causation. And the correlation to state population size is probably stronger than the correlation to the political identities of U.S. governors.
Still, if you had an easy choice where to live, your sole governing principle was to reduce the risk of death from Wuhan flu, and the only variable you were permitted to consider was the party affiliation of the governor, where would you live?
Side benefits, on average, would also probably include lower taxes, smaller governments, lower state and local debts, better schools, and more congenial regulatory regimes.
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