I’ve been tracking the 50 State Bush Approval Poll numbers from Survey USA since Hurricane Katrina back in the end of August. The polls measure Bush’s Approval Rating versus his Disapproval Rating to find the Net Approval/Disapproval fro the president on a state-by-state basis. For example, if he has 45% approval and 40% disapproval, that’s a +5% Net Approval. If he has 60% disapproval and 29% approval, that’s a -31% Net Disapproval.

Previously, I made red/blue color-coordinated maps to display Net Approval (red) and Net Disapproval (blue). It’s been fun watching the United States turn progressively bluer as the months wear on. It would’ve been nicer if this happened a year ago, though.

I’ve updated the map to animate, showing the last four months in their increasingly blue glory. I’ve also set gradients of blue and red to gauge the level of Bush love/hate in each state — 15 points either way gets you medium blue/red, 30 points equals dark blue/red. Purple is for states where approval equals disapproval, a net zero.