Red States vs. Blue States: Which Work Better?

"by their fruits ye shall know them";  Good policies produce good results, bad policies produce bad results. 

It stands to reason that if we compare the "quality of life" statistics (such as crime, poverty, and health) of blue states and red states, we should be able to learn something about the wisdom of their policies.  If blue and red states have similar statistics, then we could say that the policies are of similar quality.  On the other hand, if one "color" of state produces much better statistics than the other, we should be able to say that color that produces better results has better policies in place.

So, does the philosophy of government matter?  Do red states or blue states produce better results?  Or are they pretty well matched?  The statistics below tell the story.