Barack Obama's advantage over John McCain totalled 8 million votes. One out of seven of those votes came from Cook County, Illinois, where Obama won by more than 1.1 million votes. Here some of Sen. Obama's neighbors wait in Grant Park for the final tally on Election Day night.
Photo: Taekwonweirdo

How much did Sen. Barack Obama depend on urban votes to win the presidency? This much:

John McCain built a 5 million-vote advantage in 2,553 rural and exurban counties. Obama wiped out that margin in just ten urban counties. (See list of both candidates' top 15 counties below.)

(Editor's Note: See an updated listed and map of the counties that switched parties from the 2004 presidential contest to this year's election. Go here for a full accounting of all flipping counties.)

It is, of course, misleading to consider only Obama's city votes as crucial to his victory. After all, the president-elect won more than 9 million votes in rural America. Without those, he wouldn't be selecting his cabinet today.

Map: Tim Murphy, for the Daily Yonder

The map above shows the counties that flipped on November 4. They are the places where a majority of voters supported one party for president in 2004 but a different party in this election.

There are 375 counties that switched allegiance between the last race for president and this one. Of those, 44 counties supported Democrat John Kerry in 2004 but Republican John McCain this year.

There are 331 counties that flipped in the other direction, that voted for Republican George W. Bush in 2004 and Democrat Barack Obama this year.

The Yonder has a full listing of these counties. For the 113 urban counties that switched — including Hiilsboro Co., Florida (Tampa) and Fayette Co., Kentucky (Lexington) — go here.

For the 213 rural counties (including Alamosa Co., Colorado, and Audubon Co., Iowa), go here.

For the 49 exurban counties (including Oconto Co., Wisconsin, and King and Queen Co., Virginia), go here.