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, representing states as either red or blue.]] , with same coloring for the parties]] Red states and '''blue states''' refer to those U.S. State s whose residents predominantly voted for the Republican Party or Democratic Party , respectively, in U.S. Election s, especially in the U.S. Presidential Election s of 2000 and 2004 . Only three states (New Mexico, Iowa, and New Hampshire) shifted parties between these two elections. In the latter contest, 31 U.S. states were "red" and 19 states were "blue", though 12 of those "red" states were "blue" as recently as 1996 . CHOICE OF COLORS During U.S. national elections, media outlets commonly display election results on a map of U.S. states—with each state assigned a color based on which party's candidate won the state, as nearly all states award the sum of their Electoral Votes in a Winner-take-all contest (the exceptions being Maine And Nebraska ). Because the United States has a ''de facto'' Two-party System , the national colors of red and blue came to be reserved for the two major parties. Third-party candidates rarely win any states, but media outlets are prepared with other arbitrary colors for noteworthy third party showings, such as green for the Green Party and white for Reform Party . With the adoption of color television in the 1960s (and continuing with increased use of color in newspapers in the 1980s and 1990s) media outlets took advantage of this in their electoral maps on election night. But until the 2000 election, there was no consensus on color schemes between the networks. For example, from 1972 until at least 1992, NBC consistently showed Republican-won states in blue, and Democratic-won states in red. But other networks used other patterns. ABC, in at least two presidential elections during this time, used yellow for one major party and blue for the other. However, in 2000, for the first time ever, all the major broadcast networks and all the cable news outlets utilized the same color scheme: red for Republicans and blue for Democrats. Partly as a result of this first-time universal color-coding, the terms ''red states'' and ''blue states'' entered popular usage in the weeks following the 2000 Presidential Election . Additionally, the closeness of the disputed election kept the colored maps in the public view for longer than usual, and red and blue thus became fixed in the media and in most people's minds. {Link without Title} U.S. State Counties and Congressional District s may also be called "red" or "blue" if their residents predominantly vote for one party or another in any given election. The District Of Columbia , though not a state, can also be called "blue" because it has voted for the Democrat in every election since its residents were first allowed to vote for President. In addition, the term "red stater" or "blue stater" may refer to individuals who vote for, are affiliated with, or otherwise identify primarily with the Republican Party or Democratic Party, respectively. Less common is the practice of referring to residents of "red states" and "blue states" as "red staters" and "blue staters" respectively. Also there have been Red Areas in Blue States (Like Orange County in California and Ottawa County, Michigan ) and Blue Areas in Red States (Like the Denver area of Colorado , Cleveland, Ohio and Austin, Texas ) The choice of colors in this divide is counterintuitive to many international observers, as throughout the world, especially Europe and Canada , red is commonly the designated colour for parties representing labour interests, and blue for conservative. While the Democratic Party tends to represent labour interests, the Republican Party tends to represent the interests of employers and big business. 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 , the Upper Midwest and the Pacific Coast . The Midwest is rather divided. The more rural midwestern states of Iowa and Indiana are considered to be red, although Iowa is often considered to be a swing state as well, having given its support to Bill Clinton in 1992 and 1996 and Al Gore in 2000. The states that have larger urban areas such as Illinois ( Chicago ), Michigan ( Detroit ), Wisconsin ( Milwaukee , Madison ), and Minnesota ( Minneapolis-St. Paul ) are considered to be blue. The strongest blue state in the midwest is by far Illinois , in which both Kerry and Gore had over 10% margin wins in 2004 and 2000. Solid red states are , it may become a swing state in the near future. This speculation seems murky at best, however, since, As Of 2006 , only four states in the entire nation have a net approval of George W. Bush . A large number of states which are traditionally considered "red" such as Colorado , Ohio , Iowa , Nevada , New Mexico and Arkansas have net disapproval ratings of higher than 60%. {Link without Title} States currently thought to be solidly "blue" include California , Oregon , Washington , Hawaii , New Jersey , New York , Maryland , Connecticut , Minnesota , Massachusetts , Illinois , Vermont , and Rhode Island . Though some of these states have voted for Republican candidates as recently as the 1980s (most notably in 1984 , when Ronald Reagan carried 49 states, with Minnesota and the District of Columbia being the two holdouts for Walter Mondale ), they have recently supported Democratic candidates by significant margins. Of these states, Massachusetts is the "most" Democratic. In his 2004 Presidential Bid , John Kerry won Massachusetts, his home state, with 62% of its vote. But Massachusetts' title as "most Democratic state" is not dependent solely on the margin of victory of a favorite son. In 1972 , Massachusetts was the only state carried by Democratic nominee George McGovern . In addition, Massachusetts is the only large state to have an all-Democratic Congressional delegation. Two small states, Hawaii and North Dakota , also have all-Democratic delegations, but Massachusetts has more than three times the number of representatives in the House of Representatives as these two states ''combined''. 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. These demographic trends, along with less obvious correlations, have been analysed in detail by conservative pundit Steve Sailer . The demographic differences between smaller geographical areas applies as well to counties, which follow the same trend as states. The results of the 2004 presidential election support this, as even red states contain blue counties, particularly counties that include major cities. For example, out of the 17 counties that constitute Nevada , only Clark County was won by Democratic candidate John Kerry . Not only is Clark County the most populous county in Nevada, but its County Seat is the city of Las Vegas . The second-closest county—in which Republican candidate George W. Bush won by the slimmest margin—was Washoe County . The County Seat of Washoe County is the city of Reno . In Colorado , the cities of Denver and Boulder , along with many of their suburbs, vote overwhelmingly Democratic. However, one exception to this is probably Indiana , where in the 2004 presidential elections Allen County voted Bush by 63%. Allen County is home to Fort Wayne . In addition, Vanderburgh County , home of Evansville , voted Bush by 59%. Marion County , home of Indianapolis , was only a win for Kerry by a 1% margin. Taking the differences in demographics even further, one could argue that the current red-blue divide bears a resemblance to the divide prior to the American Civil War noting, however, that the "blue" states, save Kentucky, New Jersey and Delaware, were won in the 1864 election by Republican Abraham Lincoln. Similarly, one may compare the sectionalism of the 1860 U.S. Presidential Election to the presidential elections of 2000 and 2004, though with the Republican and Democratic regions reversed. However, it should be noted that these comparisons are subjective and are not scientific. George W. Bush , who won both 2000 and 2004 elections, cannot run for president again due to Term Limits . As President and leading Republican office-holder, his approval ratings have dropped considerably in many red states since the last election. Currently the Bush approval rating is about 36%approving, 60% disapproving, and 4% not sure. {Link without Title} Purple States results by County , on a Color Spectrum from Democratic Blue to Republican Red ]]The political and demographic applications of the terms have led to a temptation to presume this arbitrary classification is a clear-cut and fundamental Cultural division. 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 hardly so simplistic. The analysis that suggests political, cultural, and demographic differences between the states is more accurate when applied to smaller geographical areas. Pennsylvania, for example, shows "red" characteristics in the Westsylvania interior, but "blue" characteristics around the urban centers of Philadelphia and Pittsburgh . Political consultant James Carville has described Pennsylvania as "Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, with Alabama in between," suggesting that Pennsylvania, like several other blue states, would be solid red without its cities, due to its remainder's rural and religious, and thus socially conservative, nature. , proportionally colored, Population Cartogram ]]Traditionally, the practice of designating a U.S. state as "red" or "blue" is based on the ''winner-take-all'' system employed for presidential elections by 48 of the 50 U.S. states (Nebraska and Maine being the exceptions), and the District Of Columbia . The ''winner-take-all'' system gives all of a state's Electoral Votes to the candidate that receives the plurality of the votes from that state's residents (Louisiana is the exception in that it requires a strict majority, and if no candidate gets above 50% of the vote, a Run-off election is held between the top two candidates; as a result, if Louisiana were the deciding state in an election, the results of the election could be delayed by Louisiana's run-off). Therefore, just as the totality of a state's electoral votes are committed to a single candidate, the color of a state is committed one way or the other. Despite the prevalent ''winner-take-all'' practice, the voters of any state never vote exclusively for either the Republican or Democratic candidate. In the 2004 U.S. Presidential Election , for example, many states were divided between the Republican and the Democratic candidate by only a few percentage points. Because of this, a third term has emerged, referring to these closely-divided states as purple states. Furthermore, it could be argued that all states are "purple" to varying degrees and that the "red vs. blue" division is far from an accurate description of US culture. All states were consistent in voting for President Bush or his challenger in the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections except for three: New Mexico (Gore in '00 and Bush in '04), Iowa (Gore in '00 and Bush in '04) and New Hampshire (Bush in '00 and Kerry in '04). The 2004 election showed two of these three states to be true to the presidential preferences of their respective regions, creating a greater regional separation; thus, an argument that the country is more divided from the 2000 election. All three of those states were very close in both elections. POLARIZATION The division between red states and blue states has triggered a pronounced introspection among blue staters and red staters. Feelings of cultural and political Polarization , which have gained increased media attention since the 2004 election, have led to increased mutual feelings of alienation and enmity. These attitudes have led to the often jocular suggestion that a red state-blue state secession is in order. The Jesusland Map is one such joke, a Satirical map that redraws the U.S.- Canada border to reflect this sociopolitical schism. The polarization has been present for only two close elections (2000 and 2004). In the 1996 election, 31 U.S. states were "blue" and 19 "red" (though at the time the colors were not used consistently by the major networks). One thing that has been more consistent over this period is that the average "blue" state has a greater number of people and electoral votes than does the average "red" state. (When George W. Bush won 31 states in 2004, he gathered 286 electoral votes — an average of 9 electoral votes for each state won. When Bill Clinton won 31 states in 1996, he tallied 379 electoral votes — 12 electoral votes per state carried.) STATES' RIGHTS The Winner-take-all strategy of voting has led to the resurgence of a debate about whether a national Popular Vote should be taken rather than the currently-instituted Electoral System . Proponents of the popular vote refer to the number of candidates who have won the Presidency despite not receiving a plurality of individual votes, including George W. Bush in 2000. Proponents of the current system, however, argue that it is an issue of States' Rights and that the right to choose how to award a state's electoral college votes is guaranteed to the state by the United States Constitution . Although the issue has not been completely swept aside since the Bush/Gore election of 2000, its momentum and visibility within public debate has waned. SEE ALSO EXTERNAL LINKS
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