5 Things Red State Liberals Want Blue State Liberals To Know

[RufusTFirefly]

66. Hate to admit it, but I could NEVER live in a Red State

I live in a largely Blue state in a legendarily Blue town in a consistently Blue county and although I love the country of my birth, I truly feel as though I have one foot out the door. I'm as Red as I'm willing to get. Even a slight Doppler Shift would be enough to do me in. The problem is that I've got close Canadian relatives and lots of European friends, so I have a strong sense that despite Herculean efforts to argue otherwise, our politics are totally insane.

What about folks who live in Louisiana? Do you actually cheer when Mary Landrieu wins because she's better than the alternative? Or people in Georgia. Were you proud and relieved to have Sam Nunn as your Senator?

I'm sorry, but I could never, ever do that.

Lesser of two evils is bad enough on the national level. I'd have a really hard time swallowing it locally.

I grew up in a different Blue state but in a pretty Red town. The things I noticed that happened to the Blue-oriented folks in these situations weren't things I wanted to emulate. Either they shifted toward the Red as an inevitable compromise. Or else, they became almost a caricature of the Blue voter. Their Blue tendencies became comical and exaggerated. I can remember growing up when recycling was just starting and you actually had to drive to the dump to recycle things. All the people who showed up to recycle were essentially the town's Blue iconoclasts. Talk about bleeding-heart, do-gooder types. It was bizarre, almost as though there had been a casting call for "Liberals." I'd like to live in a place where rational, compassionate, liberal views are the mainstream, not a clear indication that you are some oddball out on the fringe. My current town, despite its reputation, just barely meets that need, but, sorry to say, there is absolutely no way that I could imagine living in a Red state. If my town got any more Red and I could come up with an exit strategy then, frankly, I'd be out of here.

I know that seems like I'm pursuing a Platonic ideal or am obsessed with some unrealistic purity (ponies, unicorns, etc.), but again, I know lots of "normal" people in Canada or Europe (some of whom amazingly qualify as right-of-center in their countries) for whom my "radical" ideas are considered so reasonable that they are barely worth comment.