Thanks for the question. The fact that income moves very tightly with vote for Romney means it's a strong correlation. Since one variable goes up while the oth

Thanks for the question. The fact that income moves very tightly with vote for Romney means it's a strong correlation. Since one variable goes up while the other goes down, it's a negative correlation. You can have any combination of strong/weak and negative/positive correlation. The image on wikipedia is good for wrapping your head around the distinction between the strength and the direction of the correlation (and the distinction between strength and the actual slope of the line of best fit). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Correlation_and_dependence http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Correlation_and_dependence Apologies if I misunderstood your question. Cheers!