America's suburbs: Key to the 2012 election (BBC)
By Christopher Niedt & Lawrence Levy
National Center for Suburban Studies
Economic and racial diversity in the American suburbs is growing rapidly. And so is the power of the suburb to determine the presidential election. As part of the BBC's continuing series on suburban Levittown, Pennsylvania, we take a look at suburban influence.
When candidates for president seek photo-op backdrops to emphasise their vision and values, they invariably invoke images of small town squares and rural Main Streets.
The first three primary contests in this year's election, Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina, reinforced this Thomas Jefferson-meets-Norman Rockwell ideal. News crews followed the candidates across landscapes of farmland, diners, rural factories and county fairs.
But this is not the America that wins presidential elections. That America lives in its suburbs, including the iconic Levittown, Pennsylvania.
For the last six presidential contests, since Democrat Michael Dukakis invited cameras to watch him working around his suburban Boston yard, the more moderate voters in the American suburbs have decided which candidate went on to live in the White House.
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more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-16692345
Moderately long article, lots of stats -- and kind of encouraging ! 
