The Election 2008 map is visually appealing with the colors of the American flag. However, there are still some ways that this map can be improved. The labeling of the states in this map is very confusing because some states are abbreviated and some are not labeled at all. Instead of labeling California as "Calif.", the label should either read "California" or "CA". Since there are many smaller states on the East Coast, it would be a good idea to label all the states using the two-letter United States Postal Service state abbreviations.
Also, the placement of Alaska and Hawaii on the map are not visually accurate. Although it may be obvious to most people that Alaska and Hawaii are not located under California and Texas, it is not clear that these are inset maps because there are no borders. It would be good to add a border around these two states. Washington D.C. is another problem because it appears to be floating in the Atlantic Ocean. It would also be beneficial to have a scale because the inset states are not proportional to the continental United States. In this way, the size of the map can be more accurately depicted.
In the replicated map, it is useless to have some of the items in the map key because they are not necessary. In the interactive map found on the New York Times website however, it makes sense to include them. This map may also be misleading because the percentage of win is not the same in every state. It might be useful to add the number of electoral votes that each candidate received from each state as well.
Overall, this map is useful, especially the information bar on top because it shows who won the presidential election in 2008. Also, the colors of the map are easy to read and understand for the most part because it uses colors that are associated with both the Republican and Democratic parties.
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