A while ago, I asked for 2000 and 2004 purple county maps in the same format--behold the glory of the net:
here they are--and not just side by side, but as an animated gif.
This probably isn't news for election junkies, but now I can see that the big red gains were Texas and about halfway north of it and Appalachian. I think the only area that got noticably bluer is the southwest.