Where is the Heartland of Real America?

I don't know why and am writing on this but the map below is taken from this article arguing that the real divide in whether people support or oppose Trump is not rural-urban, but based on the "eleven nations" named in the map below, and explained in greater detail in the article.

The article called most maps breaking down the vote by counties, or by precincts, etc. as misleading, which they certainly are.  Such maps are misleading because they create the impression of a vast Republic sea with only a few tiny democratic islands, ignoring the difference in population density.  It claims that the map below, which breaks down the vote by regions, conveys a more accurate picture.

The map below has obvious problems like, for instance, showing Clinton winning Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania when she quite notoriously didn't.  It ignores the rural-urban divide, which is very real.  But I do think the map is revealing for another reason.

The map is revealing, I think, because it reveals a certain dispute between Trump supporters and media elites about where the mythical "Real America" is located, and also why the geography of Trump's win was such a shock.

There is plenty that both groups agree on.  Both agree that the New York to Washington corridor is definitely not part of Real America.  Though less clear, they would probably agree that New England and the West Coast are also not part of Real America, while everything else is at least somewhat real, but not equally real.  Both seem to agree that white voters are more authentic that black or Hispanic voters, that blue collar voters are more authentic than white collar voters, and that small town voters are more authentic than voters in the big cities.  Both also agree that some geographic part of the United States is called the Heartland and is the most authentically Real American part of the country and therefore has the greatest moral weight.

The difference, I believe, is on where this "Heartland" of "authentic Real America" is located.  Looking at the "Eleven Nations" map and its margin of victory, it should surprise exactly no one that Trump's greatest margin of victory was in the area designated as Greater Appalachia.  I would say that Republicans  would identify the Heartland, the most authentically "real American" part of the country entitled to the greatest moral weight with Greater Appalachia.  Other people's authenticity and real American-ness can be measured by the extent to which they adopt the Greater Appalachian culture.

Our media elite, by contrast, have probably written off Greater Appalachia as a hopeless cause and instead locate the Heartland of Real America in the midlands.  If asked which state is most authentically Real American, I am guessing most of our media elite would say Iowa, with strong points for Wisconsin (which they would probably place in the Midlands) and Illinois (the prairie parts of Illinois, that is, not Chicago, although Chicago prides itself in being the biggest city still to be part of Real America).   So it must have come as a shock to see not only Greater Appalachia (clearly a hopeless cause), but much of the Midlands and even parts of Yankeedom (i.e., Michigan and Wisconsin) go over to anyone as obviously unfit to be President as Trump.

The author of the article argues that the rural-urban divide is strongest in the Midlands.  If that is where you locate the Heartland of Real America, it makes sense that you would give that division special emphasis.

And finally, it explains all the articles about journeys to Trump Country to see if people have changed their minds.  Particularly if you associate the Midlands with Real America, it makes sense to scour it to see if the Heartland has come to its senses.  Because only if it does will opposition to Trump carry the real moral conviction that it speaks for Real Americans.