Here's my opinion on combining the forums.
Do the States by region, then stick all the other Countries from around the world into 1 forum, for Politics just have the General Discussion Forum, have 1 Activist Forum for things like Boycotts, Protests, Environment and the GLBTQ etc. let the pro-Gun people have their own forum, have 1 Health Forum that includes everything from Physical Health problems to Mental Health problems to Bereavement to Asperger's, have a Religion Forum, have the Home and Family Forum, the Book Forum, and have an Entertainment Forum that covers everything from TV to Movies, then have a Political Conspiracies Forum.