Rankings Roadtrip: South Dakota Worst, Best, Etc.

KELO reports South Dakota teenage drivers are the worst in the nation. Buckle up: this report sends me careening down a freeway of state rankings:

• South Dakota also ranks last for traffic safety laws.
• We don't let those things get us down: South Dakota has the lowest occurrence of depression.
• South Dakota also posted the biggest increase in Gallup's "Well-Being Index" in 2009.
• Helping my sense of well-being: South Dakota is not the most Republican state in the Union. Ten states have a larger percentage of Republicans. Seventeen states have fewer Democrats by percentage (there's hope, Dems! Stand and fight!).
• Still, only 15.8% of South Dakotans identify themselves as liberals (must... blog... harder!)
  
• We're all optimists, sort of: South Dakotans' economic confidence was less negative than any other state in 2009.
• Only North Dakota beat us in 2009 on percentages of folks who were satisfied with their standard of living and whose employers were not cutting jobs.

Now, breakfast!