Earle and Merle Black discuss growing political divisiveness, arguing that the race for the White House now rests on a handful of states in the Midwest.
Earl Black is a professor of political science at Rice University in Houston. His brother, Merle Black, is a professor of politics and government at Emory University in Atlanta. They are also the authors of *The Rise of Southern Republicans*, *The Vital South*, and *Politics and Society in the South.*
Merle Black, B.A. (1964), Harvard College; M.A.(1968), Ph.D.(1972), University of Chicago. Specialization: American politics, especially the politics of the modern South. His current research projects concern the rise of the Republican party in the South and the consequences for national politics, the changing electorate of the South, and the politics of the Deep South states.