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Red state vs. blue state divide

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Red states and blue states are those U.S. states having residents who predominantly vote for the Republican Party or Democratic Party, respectively, in elections in the United States.

Contents

Origin of the name

Television networks covering election returns, and print and television outlets reporting and analyzing election results, will display projections and results on maps for simplicity, with each party represented by a unique color, each electoral district colored according to its projected or actual winner. The United States has a dominant two-party system. The national colors of red and blue have traditionally been used to represent the major parties in U.S. elections. Prior to 2000, there was no convention among media outlets as to which party would be represented with red and which with blue, and though there was some continuity from one election to the next, there was no definitive pattern across the media.

By coincidence, most (but not all) of the major U.S. outlets were using red for the Republicans and blue for the Democrats in the elections of 2000. A practice spontaneously emerged of referring to the states by these colors, primarily based on the results of the presidential election, in which a plurality of the state's popular vote nearly always determines the assignment of all of its electors in the Electoral College. Commentators and ordinary citizens have broadly adopted the practice. Since the 2000 election, media usage has more closely matched the dichotomy of red for Republicans and blue for Democrats, responding to viewer and reader expectation. Depending on various conventions, this association is sometimes seen as ironic, as red is the traditional color for socialist groups, and blue laws are products of cultural conservatism. For example the Liberal Party of Canada's signature color is red and the Conservative Party of Canada's is blue. On the other hand, "blue collar" is the general term for the traditional non-executive jobs of the working class, an important constituency of the Democratic Party, and red may be associated with the generally more pro-military views of the Republican Party. Simplicity of remembrance is perhaps the prevailing reason for the designation ("R" is for "red" is for "Republican").

The divide

The maps that have emerged from recent U.S. elections follow a sharply-defined geographical pattern. The red states tend to fall in the South, the Great Plains, and the Intermountain West, with the blue states in the Northeast and Pacific Coast. The Midwest is divided.

Solid red states are Alaska, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Utah, Virginia and Wyoming, which have not voted for a Democratic presidential candidate since 1964. Other strong red states include Alabama, Mississippi, North Carolina, North Dakota, South Carolina and Texas, which have not voted Democratic since 1976.

The solid blue states would generally be California, Washington, Oregon, Hawaii, New Jersey, New York, Maryland, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Illinois, Minnesota, Vermont, Maine, Michigan, and Rhode Island.


Red states and blue states have several demographic differences from each other. The association between colors and demographics was notably made in a column by Mike Barnicle, and reinforced in a controversial response from Paul Begala (though the association between demographics and voting patterns was well known before that). The most common observation is that the majority of red states tend to feature more rural area, with agriculture being one of the most important industries. The majority of blue states tend to be more urban, have higher per capita income, and are more multicultural. For a unique analysis of the demographic divide between the two blocs of states, see the Wikipedia article for Steve Sailer.

The political and demographic applications of the terms have led to cultural applications. Given the general nature and common perception of the two parties, "red state" implies a conservative region or a more conservative type of American, and "blue state" implies a liberal region or a more liberal type of American. But the distinction between the two groups of states is far from clear-cut. The analysis that suggests political, cultural, and demographic differences between the states is more accurate when applied to smaller geographical entities. Pennsylvania, for example, shows "red" characteristics in the Westsylvania interior, but "blue" characteristics around the urban centers of Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.

Blue empathy with Canadians

Particularly since the United States 2004 Election, the sharp division between red states and blue states of the United States has triggered a pronounced (if perhaps brief) introspection among the blue states. This has been a time of extreme cultural and political polarization, with some the blue states generally feeling almost completely alienated from the red states that re-elected George W. Bush as President of the United States. There has been a rise of sentiment in the blue states that questions whether they are more socially and politically like Canadians, and whether the governments of these states now more resemble Canada than state governments in the rest of the U.S. This social phenomenon is the opposite of the now-diminished 51st state rhetoric, as instead of suggesting that Canada is essentially American, it suggests that the blue states are characteristically Canadian. See also the Jesusland map, a fictional humour map that redraws the U.S.–Canada border to reflect this social schism.

See also

External links

Last updated: 05-17-2005 10:43:13