Hey, people! Knock it off, already, with this red-state/blue-state name calling, especially by progressives who live in blue states! I and millions of other red-state progressives are wholeheartedly on your side, even if we do happen to live in red states. We despise the Bush Administration as much as you do. And, no, we are not all blue staters who reluctantly migrated to red states to pursue careers. Most of us (probably) were born and raised here.
Lower Your Noses a Little, Please
Blue-state progressives do not have that much room for self-righteousness. The antiquated, unfair Electoral College (with the help of modern, self-serving conservative strategists) has messed up Americans' perceptions of our nation. Burn these numbers into your brains: George W. Bush received a total of 25,132,439 votes from supposedly enlightened "blue staters." John Kerry received a total of 26,004,540 votes from supposedly backwards "red staters" (there were probably even more red-state Kerry voters than that number indicates, if you take a few stolen state elections into account). The red states are not a vast wasteland populated only by hillbillies, rednecks and evangelical christians. There are a lot of Americans "out here" who are none of those things.
A Few More Sobering Statistics
Kerry won six blue states by five (5) percent or less (actually three percent or less), as follows: New Hampshire 1%, Wisconsin 1%, Pennsylvania 2%, Michigan 3%, Minnesota 3% and Oregon 3%.
Kerry "lost" six red states by five percent or less: Iowa -1%, New Mexico -1%, Nevada -2%, Ohio -2%, Colorado -5% and Florida -5%.
In Other Words
There are six blue states that came very, very close to being labeled as "red states," which would have earned them the stigma of being viewed as states populated only by hillbillies, rednecks and evangelical christians.
On the other hand, there are six red states that came very, very close to being labeled as "blue states," which would have earned them the honor of being viewed as states populated only by progressives, democrats and enlightened peoples.
Furthermore, even those red states that voted overwhelmingly for Bush are inhabited by many millions of people who voted for Kerry.
In Conclusion
Let's stop this talk of wanting to split into two different nations, even if said in sarcastic jest. There are a lot of us in the red states who aren't interested in moving to the "blue states" or to Canada merely because we are outnumbered by incredibly close-minded "anti-liberal" voters (most of whom, at least here in the midwest and west, are very friendly and welcoming, in spite of their political leanings). Besides, I suspect that it won't be too long before Bush/Cheney's bungled policies and criminal acts (aided and abetted by a republican congress) come back to bite conservative voters in their rear ends. Not only will their immature political illusions be shattered (even if temporarily), but their religious illusions (as they relate to "born-again" Bush's manifest destiny) may also receive a few scratches and dents. That's when it's fun to live amongst them.
Election statistics interpreted from a November 2004, article in USA Today.
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I agree with you, Bambic. More than one of my friends here in Nebraska and South Dakota, who headed south on vacation, have commented on the rabid hatred of "Yankees" that still exists in the south, especially if you take a wrong turn onto certain back roads in Oklahoma, just to name one state. My dad, a native South Dakotan, and no slouch in the "toughness" department, had a very scary experience in southern Missouri in the 1960s. The majority of Missourians are not dangerous (my mom, a progressive through and through, is from southern Missouri), but just don't go too far back into the hills. It is a very surreal part of this nation; and it just dismays me beyond words that such people have hijacked the American political process, and that too many politicians have given them clout by catering to their wishes (anything to get elected). If every politician in the U.S. agreed tomorrow to totally ignore southern evangelical types forevermore, their power would evaporate in an instant, and this nation might finally awaken from this particular nightmare.
That would make one nightmare down, several more to go.
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