Who else thinks the "red state, blue state" thing is simplistic and

[Redleg]

reductionistic? Good lord, if a state voted 51% rethuglican and 49% dem it would be considered a red state. The electoral map often looks more red than blue, giving people the incorrect impression that America is more conservative than it really is.

To make it less simplistic, perhaps we should call a state a red state if it has 2/3 or more of the vote going to rethugs. Any state without a clear 2/3 majority should be an in-between state (perhaps purple if I have my primary color combinations correct).

Red state blue state is the kind of stuff assnecks and pseudo-intellectuals like David Brooks like to use to show the differences between Dems and rethugs. Yes, and some liberals have used the analogy as well.

[LuminousX]

1. I agree

We need to think of potentials not of absolutes. We need to continue to educate and grow our base in all states.

[tom_paine]

2. Simplistic ideas for Virtual Slaves

The Imperial Subjects of Amerika are not to be burdened with difficult topics.

In such cases, it is typical to have a roundtable of "experts" or "pundits" to tell them what to think and how to think about a given topic.

OF COURSE it's an oversimplification.

For the New Amerika, it fits like hand-in-glove...

[Paradise]

3. it is a sharply divisive method! n/t

[tritsofme]

4. Most states that weren't won by more than 5% by either bush or Gore

are the "battleground" states.

Some people classify them as "purple"

[UpsideDownFlag]

5. red and blue may be simplistic, but it is electorally true.

for instance: virginia always goes republican. it just does. that doesn't mean kerry doesn't have a shot, but the situation feeds on itself b.c advisors know its a red state, so they choose not to spend valuable money there.

[calico1]

8. That is what I was going to say.

If the candidate wins 50.5% of the vote then he wins the state electorally. I do agree however that it is simplistic to assume for example that everyone who lives in CT is a die hard Democrat when the truth is we have die hard Republicans too. Its just that they are outnumbered. I think that especially when people are not familiar with an area they tend to think of it in all red or all blue terms. For example, when I think of North or South Dakota I think of it as a love haven for *. Yet I'm sure there are people there that hate *. Even in Utah I'll bet some people hate * but its just hard thinking of that as a possibility when you're not familiar with the area.

[BlueEyedSon]

6. What about 60/40?

where do you draw the line?

It is very useful to talk about where fed taxes are going......

[K-W]

7. Not really.

The political fact that our presidential elections are decided by winner take all elections in states has created a situation with red/blue/swing states. That isnt simplistic or reductionsistic, it is just how it is.

If a state only voted 51% republican it would not be considered a red state, it would be considered a swing state.

I dont think the map fools people into seeing a conservative majority, I do however think it works towards the age old divisions in our nation, where southerners, mid-westerners, new englenders etc see themselves as seperate from each other.

I have seen many many horrid uses of red and blue states in arguments, but it isnt at the base flawed. Like anything else, it can be spun out of any sense of logic.

[Redleg]

9. I get the electoral votes aspect but dislike the rest of it. EOM

[K-W]

10. But that is what red/blue is about, electoral votes.

Im not sure what the rest of it is to you.

[Redleg]

12. I know that but people use it to simplistically categorize us

based on the states in which we reside. It's an example of making gross stereotypes based on a small statistical difference (at least in most cases).

[K-W]

15. Well, I have never encountered that myself.

I have never heard anyone claim that everyone in a red state is conservative or vice versa. It is just a fact of our system that the minority voters are completely unrepresented politically in most states. Thus they are invisible to the system.

And there is obvioulsy some reason why some states are red and others are blue and there is nothign wrong with analyzing those differences.

[Redleg]

16. I just saw it today at DU- red states receive most federal funding,

blue states pay for it. That is true but simplistic.

There is nothing wrong with understanding the voting patterns in the states, but using the red state-blue state dichotomy does little to help us understand.

[K-W]

17. What is wrong with that? If it is true, it is true.

You can argue that it is a coincidence, or that it isnt true, but if there is a correllation between the states votes and federal money, why not analyze it?

[Redleg]

18. I am not arguing that it's coincidence but I am arguing the

red state-blue state dichotomy is artificial and doesn't really help us learn much. Think about it this way- what if we categorized people by their scores on an IQ test- those above the mean are smart and those below the mean are dumb. Furthermore, what if we used those terms to refer to people and to make employment decisions (without considering other job-related predictors of performance)? That would be unfair and unduly simplistic, right?

[ixion]

11. absolutely

coming from a progressive who has lived in two of the 'redder' states (Florida and Texas, among others), I'm always dismayed that the entire state is given over to one or the other parties, simply because there's a 51% percent majority of 'red' voters who show up.

[elsiesummers]

13. Electoral is Red/Blue States; Populations are urban=blue, rural=red.

So as some states increase size of urban populations, while others do not, the blue state, red state labels can shift as demographics shift.

BTW - for VA poster up thread - VA has voted for Democratic governors many times, so hope should not be lost on VA - it will simply take time.

Before the SBV smears I had hoped that Kerry might have enough appeal, as a Vietnam Vet, along with Edwards, who has a verbal style that plays well in VA, to bring VA to the Blue side. VA will eventually turn toward the Democrats, presidentially. It's written in the demographic trends.

[DeepModem Mom]

14. I think we are two countries, and Red and Blue is as good as any...

other designation. I was born and grew up in a Red State, and have lived in two other Red States, two Blue States, and abroad. I have family and close friends, liberals, who live in deep Red States, and have a hard time of it. (It wasn't always so; Bush and Co., the VRWC, Fox News, and the "religious" right have made it so.) My hat's off to these friends and family, and their predicament is shared with millions of great people who live outnumbered by a majority that doesn't share their ideas and values.

I feel more at home abroad than in a Red American State. I recently drove 2/3 of the way across America, and my companion on the trip and I swore we could sense the change in atmosphere as we crossed the border between Red and Blue states. We immediately felt at home, or we felt alien in our own country.

"Swing" states are, as others have suggested, a different matter -- although most swing states, I believe, are divided into Red and Blue areas -- urban/rural, upstate/downstate, or agricultural/industrial, etc.

[LSdemocrat]

19. The original thorough analyses focused on red and blue COUNTIES

which makes more sense.

[Bridget Burke]

20. The Red/Blue dichotomy is simplistic & stupid.

I live in Houston, Texas, and there are numerous Kerry/Edwards signs in my neighborhood; no Bush/Cheney signs noted, although I'm sure some will vote for them.

The great & groovy state of California elected Arnold Schwarzenegger governor.

It's OK if hurricanes destroy the Bad States (usually in "The South"). Earthquake faults & dormant volcanoes threaten the Good States--Oh, No!

Simplistic & divisive.

[Skittles]

21. Skittles is in a Red State

'nuff said