I refuse to use the term ‘red’ and ‘blue’ to denote Dem or Republican states- Before Al Gore ran, the democrat states used to always be colored (appropriately) COMMIE RED
They deliberately switched the colors for that exact reason.
“I refuse to use the term ‘red’ and ‘blue’ to denote Dem or Republican states- Before Al Gore ran, the democrat states used to always be colored (appropriately) COMMIE RED”
I agree. If we could convince Fox News to change, the majority of the viewers would change. First the descriptors need to be abandoned for a while.
Per Wiki:
Before the 2000 presidential election, the traditional color-coding scheme was “Blue for Republican, Red for Democrat,”[2] in line with historical European associations (red was used for left-leaning parties).[3]
Traditional political mapmakers, at least throughout the 20th century, have used blue to represent the modern-day Republicans, and the Federalists who preceded them. Perhaps this was a holdover from the days of the Civil War when the predominantly Republican North was “Blue”.[2]
Even earlier, in the 1888 presidential election, Grover Cleveland and Benjamin Harrison used maps that coded blue for the Republicans, the color Cleveland perceived to represent the Union and “Lincoln’s Party”, and red for the Democrats.[5] The parties themselves had no official colors, with candidates variously using either or both of the national color palette of red and blue (white being unsuitable for printed materials).
Time magazine assigned red to the Democrats and blue to the Republicans in its election graphics in every election from 1988 to 2000. The Washington Post’s election graphics for the 2000 election were Republican-blue, Democrat-red.[3]
*There are two general reasons why blue for Republican and Red for Democrat make the most sense: connotation and practice.
First, there has been a generally understood meaning to
the two colors inasmuch as they relate to politics. That is, the cooler color blue more closely represented the rational thinker and cold-hearted and the hotter red more closely represented the passionate and hot-blooded. This would translate into blue for Republicans and red for
Democrats. Put another way, red was also the color most associated with socialism and the party of the Democrats was clearly the more socialistic of the two major parties.
The second reason why blue for Republicans makes sense is that traditional political mapmakers have used blue for the modern-day Republicans, and the Federalists before that, throughout the 20th century. Perhaps this was a holdover from the days of the Civil War when the predominantly Republican North was “Blue”.
Footnotes:
2. *Polidata: POLIDATA® Political Data Analysis DATABASE DEVELOPMENT, ANALYSIS AND PUBLICATION;
POLITICAL AND CENSUS DATA; REDISTRICTING SUPPORT, RED STATE BLUES Did I Miss That Memo?
May 27, 2004 CLARK BENSEN http://www.polidata.org/elections/red_states_blues_de27a.pdf
3. Farhi, Paul (November 2, 2004). “Elephants Are Red, Donkeys Are Blue”. Washington Post. p. C01.http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A17079-2004Nov1.html
5. The Political Game: The Red and Blue State Phenomenon http://politicalgame.blogspot.com/2005/01/red-and-blue-state-phenomenon.html
Is Red & Blue as politically incorrect as calling urban areas “Black” areas and rural areas “White?”