Russ Crupnick, senior vice president of industry analysis for NPD, said the competition isn't hurting Apple yet because the iTunes user base is so big.

WSJ: Eddy Cue: Apple's Rising Mr. Fix-It

All of this analysis points to a robust competition between the two parties over the past two decades, with no permanent winners or losers and no emerging natural majority for either party.

WSJ: Michael Barone: The Meaning Inside the Political Numbers

According to his analysis, the traditional Times franchise had been suffering steady erosion as a result of heightened media competition and the encroachment of the internet.

ECONOMIST: The newspaper industry

While only 12 percent of the U.S. population is foreign-born, 70 percent of the finalists in the 2011 Intel Science Talent Search competition were the children of immigrants, according to a National Foundation for American Policy analysis.

FORBES: Children of Immigrants Poised to Be Key Members of Next Generation in Science