A few days ago, I was talking to a friend — a fellow Republican — about 2016. He was kind of for Walker, but, beyond that, he said there ought definitely to be a midwestern governor on the ticket. And Bush or Rubio would be good for Florida.

And it occurred to me that geography has seriously diminished as a factor in our politics. At least I think it has. This diminution, moreover, must be a consequence of our new, and instant, media. No one is really from anywhere. Everyone is just kind of — present. Do you know what I mean?

In 2008, no one thought of Barack Obama as a man from Illinois. At least I don’t think anyone did. There was talk of “Chicago,” true. But Obama was not local, or regional. He was not from Illinois, not from Hawaii. Some people said he was from Kenya or Indonesia, true!

He was mainly that cool, elegant, eloquent black guy who was going to transcend partisanship, transcend race, and bring us together. No longer would we be the “blue states” or the “red states.” We would be the United States.

Ha ha ha!

And McCain? He was from Arizona, sure — but did anyone think of him as an Arizonan? He was a Vietnam War hero and a longtime senator.

Sarah Palin, I grant you, was an Alaskan — a breath of fresh air (as I saw it) from that beautiful and distinctly American state. How about Mitt Romney? Where was he from? Michigan, Utah, Massachusetts? All of the above?

In 1988, the first Bush joked about his multiplicity of home states. “Hit one the other day,” he said on the trail. (He is underrated as a wit, by the way.) He was from Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, Texas — some others, I think. He was an American, and a man of the world.

Geography, or region, mattered a lot in 1960. LBJ served as a balance for Kennedy. Of course, geography can be a stand-in for party factions, too. In the Republican party, we have factions (although these are exaggerated, in our endless game of more-conservative-than-thou). Does the Democratic party have factions? They’re all the same, aren’t they? All Obamites or Hillaryites, so to speak.

Sure, Menendez is responsible on foreign policy, but a) he’s of Cuban heritage and b) he’s indicted — and I bet this indictment stems from Obamite resentment.

In any event, the changing role of geography in our politics would make an interesting study — probably already has — and I’m just doing blogposts.