Resolved: We shall abandon all talk of “red states” and “blue states” [View All]

[pmbryant]

The time has come for every clear thinking American to drop all reference to states as either “red” or “blue”. These artificial terms serve no purpose other than to exaggerate and reinforce whatever cultural divide already exists in this country. And that purpose plays right into the hands of the GOP and the Bush administration.

The GOP and the Bush administration have divided the country and emerged with the larger half. If we in the opposition party participate in cementing this divide, we will be relegated to a long-term minority status, even if only by the barest of margins. So, to restore our majority, it is up to us to take the lead in trying to repair the divide, to undo the damage done over the last four years. The first step in that long process is to abandon the artificial terms “red state” and “blue state”.

From now on, like we did before November 7, 2000, we all will live in simple “states”.

To understand how meaningless the “red state” and “blue state” terms are, consider first Iowa, New Mexico, and New Hampshire. These states voted barely in one direction in 2000, and barely in the other direction in 2004. What color are they supposed to be?

Consider next Wisconsin, Minnesota, Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Florida. These states voted slightly in one direction in 2000 and slightly in the same direction in 2004. In each of these, if one out of every forty voters had voted differently, the state would be colored differently on the ubiquitous Electoral College maps. Why is it meaningful to permanently label two of them “blue” and the other two “red”?

Finally, consider states like Texas, California, New York, Illinois, Georgia, and North Carolina. These states apparently voted decisively for one candidate or the other. Yet even in Texas, the adopted home state of the incumbent and where state pride is a gargantuan factor, if merely one out of every eight voters had changed their mind, the political world would be turned upside down. Is it worthwhile to label an entire state based on the voting decisions of such a small fraction of the electorate?

So who will join me in rejecting these terms and forging forward, no longer as “red state Americans” or “blue state Americans”, but as pure and simple “Americans”?