“The pundits like to slice and dice our country into red states and blue states …” Barack Obama famously observed in 2004. “But I’ve got news for them: There’s the United States of America.”

Obama went on to become president four years later, but here’s some news for him: There are significant differences between so-called “red” states that tend to vote Republican in presidential elections and “blue” ones that usually support Democrats. The colors, of course, come from maps often used in television graphics during election coverage.

What are some of the red state/blue state differences? While campaigning, Republicans tend to focus on values, claiming they’re better for families and traditional marriages, while Democrats argue that poor people, minorities and women are better off with them.

California has been blue since 1992, when Bill Clinton carried it with a plurality of the vote against the elder George Bush, later winning a majority here in 1996...