[ceeplusplus]

The article tries to come to the conclusion that correlation equals causation. The title reads "A growing gap in premature deaths along party lines underscores the collision of politics and public health" which implies politics causes premature deaths. In reality it's more likely that the average Republican voter skews both lower income and rural which is the true causation of deaths.

[wolverine876]

> In reality it's more likely that the average Republican voter skews both lower income and rural which is the true causation of deaths.

The author's based their analysis on data; is there data for your claim? There is plenty of poverty in cities.

EDIT: Quoting another commenter who quoted the OP: "[r]egardless of whether we looked at urban or rural areas, people living in areas with Republican political preferences were more likely to die prematurely than those in areas with Democratic political preferences"

[Spivak]

Unless you're arguing that the typical Republican voter is skewing ruraler and poorer over time such a theory doesn't explain why the gap is growing.

[ceeplusplus]

I think that's a valid argument to be made. Stats have shown the Republican party has become more blue collar over time [1] and that white collar workers are trending left over time [2]. This would explain why the gap is growing: blue collar workers make less and sacrifice more of their health on the job than white collar workers. Blue collar workers also generally don't live in cities, because factories and industry aren't located in cities.

[1] https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/meet-the-press/gop-rapidly-...

[2] https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/01/11/democrat-...