Plain and simple, COVID-19 is an ideological disease. States lead by conservative politicians look entirely different than those lead by leftists, mostly because the liberal leaders are not lifting lockdown restrictions. In contrast, conservative locales have returned to a semblance of normalcy. So, which approach is better? If you analyze recent labor statistics and COVID-19 data, it is easy to see that conservative states are winning.

Travel to conservative states, you see thriving businesses, occupied schools, open churches, busy playgrounds, bustling restaurants, and happy people. Visit states with leftist policies, and you see graffiti-laden, boarded-up storefronts, empty schools, “do not enter” signs on playgrounds, padlocks at public parks. People are angry, fearful, and wearing masks—even outside, when alone, socially distanced, or while driving a car without passengers.

Given these differences, it should be no surprise that conservatives lead the top ten states with the lowest unemployment rate (other than Montana): Nebraska (3.5%), South Dakota (4.1%), Vermont (4.2%), North Dakota (4.4%), Iowa (4.7%), Missouri (4.9%), Utah (5%), South Carolina (5.1%), Montana (5.3%), Oklahoma (5.3%)

Similarly, the top ten states in terms of highest unemployment rates are all led by liberals other than West Virginia and Massachusetts:
Hawaii (15.1%), Nevada (12.6%), California (11%), Rhode Island (10.5%), Illinois (10.2%), New York (9.7%), Massachusetts (9.6%), New Mexico (9.4%), West Virginia (8.6%), Michigan (8.5%)

Moving to Covid-19 data, the pattern continues: liberals lead six of the top 10 states with the most Covid fatalities. Starting with the largest number, the raking is New Jersey, followed by New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Louisiana, Rhode Island, Mississippi, DC, Arizona, and then Illinois. Massachusetts, Mississippi, and Arizona are the conservative exceptions. However, Massachusetts is hardly conservative, given the overall electoral makeup of the state.
Combing through data is rarely exciting. Statistics aren’t sexy.

However, facts are facts. This analysis tells us that factually speaking, lockdowns haven’t helped our economy.