RED STATES HAVE MORE GUN DEATHS, TEEN PREGNANCIES, AND LOWER EDUCATION

[powergirl]

A great analysis of the dichotomy of the people in red vs. blue states was in the Dallas Morning News this morning in an article called "Beyond Red and Blue." Below is their analysis and some of the statistics. As you can imagine, things are pretty bad for the Red Staters - who keep voting for these idiots. How can we get them to see the light??? The link is below to read the entire article.

". . . we took a few demographic snapshots of the reddest and bluest states -- the infrared and ultraviolet, if you will. These we defined as states where a candidate won by at least 10 percentage points.

There were 23 infrared states, 9 ultraviolet. That looks more unbalanced than it is. Mr. Bush won big in more states, but those where Mr. Kerry won big are more populous. Not quite a third of Americans live in the ultraviolet states; slightly more than a third live in the infrared."

I copied the following categories:


EDUCATIONAL LEVEL

"All nine ultraviolet states had higher education levels than the U.S. average (measured in percentage of adults with at least a bachelor's degree).

Twenty of the 23 infrared states were below the U.S. average."

TEEN PREGNANCY

"Getting an early start on producing new voters
The highest birth rate among teens was in the District of Columbia (69.1 per 1,000 women). The next 15 highest rates were in infrared states.

Six of the seven lowest teen birth rates were in ultraviolet states, led by Massachusetts (23.3 per 1,000 women). "

NUMBER OF MOBILE HOMES

Y"ou just don't see many along Embassy Row
Every state above the national average in mobile homes (as a percentage of total housing) is infrared.

Eight of the ten lowest are ultraviolet."

GUN DEATHS

Gun deaths stand out in D.C. – and far from it
The greatest percentage of deaths by firearm occurred in the District of Columbia. But the next 17 on the list were all infrared states.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/religion/stories/080605DNrel-redbluemain.20b964e4.html

It really makes me mad. I wonder, do I need to put on my tin foil hat? Do the repubs really want to encourage teen pregnancy and thus create more voters???? I'm beginning to actually believe this.
:tinfoilhat:

[BrklynLiberal]

1. Nope, I think they want to create an underclass so they have more poorer

undereducated people that they can use for "warriors" to fight their never ending wars, and to fill the low paying jobs that will be all that will left in this country after they are done destroying the middle class.

They have no intention of ever allowing these people to vote.

Do the repubs really want to encourage teen pregnancy and thus create more voters


EDIT: Think about what was going on here before the turn of the century when big business ran the government, and little kids worked in factories, and women did not vote...that will give you more of a picture of what they have in mind.

[Comandante_Subzero]

2. Answers

All these problems are the result of the climate of permissiveness created by Clinton. (Abu Graib too). :)

[BrklynLiberal]

3. Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight.

:mad: Damn that prosperity, optimism, and peace!!!!

[me b zola]

38. "climate of permissiveness "

:wtf: You are blaming Clinton for the abuses at Abu Graib? Here is an idea, blame the criminal administration which is in power and who openly acknowledges torture for current & future detainees.


If you wish to speak about a "climate of permissiveness", I would begin by peeking into the current climate that seems to spawn an awful lot of pedophiles, crooks, thugs, and traitors within the rethuglican party.


Here's a note. If you were being sarcastic and you do not wish to be alerted on, there are several ways to indicate sarcasm---we even have a sarcasm smiley.

[RebelOne]

4. There is nothing wrong with living in a mobile home.

I have a mobile home and I am so sick of people looking down their noses at those who live in mobile homes. At least, my home is paid for and I do not have any mortgage payments. I have a good job, a nice car and I chose to buy a mobile home because I did not want any high house payments. And by the way, I do live in the red state of Georgia.

[powergirl]

7. Sorry Rebelone - I wasn't dissin' you

I live in Texas, the mother of all red states. I have lived in a mobile home. My brother currently lives in one. Especially if you live in the country, that is the best way to go - and they are costly to move. (about $5000) when we moved my brother's.

But I wasn't dissin' you or any other form of habitation. The article just quotes a lot of stats and that was one of them. I'll see if I can delete the reference in my header. :pals:

[RebelOne]

9. You are forgiven. It just riles me up when

people seem to think that those who live in mobile homes are considered white trash.

[MissMarple]

8. Lot's of rural and small town folks in Colorado live in mobile and pre fab

homes. Building can be quite expensive. :)

[Nashyra]

18. There is a portion of the coast of Calif

between NewPort Beach and Laguna Beach, at least when I lived there, where the mobile home park were the only "houses on the beach" You could not get one if you tried so many went to family members. I don't know if it is still there but it had been there forever when I moved there in 1978. The mobile home park in Tahoe is one of the closes communities to the "beach", once again you can not longer get a spot. So I for one have no problem with mobile home and despise people who uses it as a barometer for a persons success. Hell Clinton has a "doublewide" in Litle Rock, the library is beautiful, it is a "green" building and it is very personal, you would never know it from looking at it because of it's very modern lines. If you have a chance go see the library, it will bring tears to your eyes about what could have been.

[O.M.B.inOhio]

5. want to create more voters? Nah, they don't need voters.

With elections rigged, the Repubs do not really need voters. Now, if money id the fuel for the GOP greed machine (greased by its political and media elements), then they do benefit from teen pregnancy and everything that creates a class hopelessly mired in poverty.

[Name removed]

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[Name removed]

13. Deleted message

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[MissMarple]

15. If that happened , or they wished it did, it would be all over FOX.

[MissMarple]

6. Do you mean teens in red states AREN'T abstaining? I'm shocked.

If they don't have comprehensive sex ed programs like ultraviolet states, how on earth do they know how to have babies? :rofl:

[DemBones DemBones]

11. The blue states are where you'll find the people who own

the major businesses and industries (i.e. the major employers) in the red states. They don't care about the people in the red states, all they want is cheap labor. That's why all the textile mills moved from the North to the South, beginning during Reconstruction.

The blue-state dwelling owners don't care if kids in the red states get much of an education. Too much education makes people want to do something other than work on an assembly line. It's also fine with them if kids marry and have kids of their own when they're young and poor; it gets them in debt and they can control them better in the workplace. People who are desperate for work also don't complain about breathing cotton lint all day in a mill or about the dye that colors a nearby stream a most unnatural color.

The first year I taught in an Appalachian county, I was surprised to learn how many of my students worked a full-time job on second or third shift in addition to being in school. Some played sports as well. The day I heard two second-shift-working football players (10th graders) discussing the merits of their respective credit unions was the day I really understood what a different world many of my students lived in.

[southlandshari]

20. Excellent point

The simple red state/blue state comparisons are meaningless without context, and you've made an important point to be considered.

:thumbsup:

[QC]

21. Yep, America's relationship to its rural sections has been colonialist

more often than not. The South (esp. Appalachia) and the midwest have been viewed by the financial elites (who are still primarily northeastern) as nothing more than sources of raw material and cheap labor. For example, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, outside interests acquired the majority of West Virginia's landmass (which they still own) and cut enough timber to build a boardwalk to the moon.

Then those same rich people who made their brothers and sisters in rural America poor laughed at their poverty. It's a very ugly story, but one that you have to do some digging on your own to know anything about, since it will never make it into the school history texts, which are all about sustaining American myths.

[kenny blankenship]

27. and a problematic corollary of this observation is...

the blue states are also where you find the bulk of the OWNERS of the Republican Party. The Redstaters are their footsoldiers.

[napi21]

12. I think this info is more than a red/blue issue.

I think it has more to do with more people living in cities and suburbs in the blue states, compared to more living in rural areas in the red states.

My husband's family was from a very rural part of Pa, and he always told me that there was much more teen sex there BECAUSE that's the only thing they had to do. There was little to no entertainment for teens, or anyone else for that matter. They also ALL were big into hunting and shooting, and very protective of their terratory and their possessions. If you trespasses on their land, you better expect to get shot. And DON'T mess around with a guy's "woman"!

There's a lot of those same circumstances in rural Ga. too.

[QC]

14. The Red/Blue Thing is a Republican Talking Point.

Maybe part of why we're not doing so well electorally is the way we let the Republicans frame the terms of all debates, even the ones we hold among ourselves. Just a thought....

Besides, the issues raised in this article have a hell of a lot more to do with class than geography, and it was our own party's decision to abandon "class warfare" (and the working class) that made possible the Right's Kulturkampf by making divisive social issues the entire debate. When both sides support tax cuts for the rich and shipping jobs out of the country, then "values" become the only distinction between the parties. That's where we are now.

[AuntPatsy]

39. I agree, talking red blue is not only misleading but definately defeating

and a waste of time, the simple facts are, there are left, right, middle aisle minds in each and every state of this great nation.

[TriMetFan]

16. What happen to family values?

The thing that gets me is that there are so many teenage girls that are having babies in those red states and we in the blue states will have to pay for the ones that end up on welfare. Also I'm not surprised that divorce was not part of this little red vs. blue news. Red states have the most divorces the n in the blue states. The state with the fewest is the state of Massachusetts. Those Gay/Lesbian Loving Liberals in Massachusetts know how to stay married. And just on more thing to any one here that lives in a mobile home. I don't care if your house was made out of mud or if you live in a house made out of gold. a home is a home.

[QC]

17. "have to pay for the ones that end up on welfare"

My freeper relatives love to gripe about that, too. It has been surprising, and not a little disappointing, to see so many people here take that up in the midst of the red/blue mania that has swept through this place like typhoid through a tenement.

Many of the problems named here, like teen pregnancy and divorce, are financial in nature. Anybody who think that these things are all determined by how a state voted in the most recent presidential election needs to pay a visit to rural California or central Pennsylvania, among many other places, and see how many millions of people in this country still live.

[theHandpuppet]

19. They also lead in divorce rates

The way I figure it, if some of these bozos can get married five or six times, I should have the right to get married at least once!

http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2004/10/31/walking_the_walk_on_family_values/

Walking the walk on family values
By William V. D'Antonio | October 31, 2004

PRESIDENT Bush and Vice President Cheney make reference to "Massachusetts liberals" as if they were referring to people with some kind of disease. I decided it was time to do some research on these people, and here is what I found.

The state with the lowest divorce rate in the nation is Massachusetts. At latest count it had a divorce rate of 2.4 per 1,000 population, while the rate for Texas was 4.1.

But don't take the US government's word for it. Take a look at the findings from the George Barna Research Group. George Barna, a born-again Christian whose company is in Ventura, Calif., found that Massachusetts does indeed have the lowest divorce rate among all 50 states. More disturbing was the finding that born-again Christians have among the highest divorce rates....

MORE...

[tedoll78]

22. Why do Democrats not advertise on this point?

I can imagine a Purple state campaign run by an independent group.

A car with your typical swing voter family (2.2 kids + Mom + Dad) pulls up to a "T" intersection in the middle of nowhere. The driver looks unsure of which way to turn.

To their left? A lovely sign that says "Blue States Ahead." Behind the sign is a lush, beautiful landscape with a beautiful Blue sky. And on the side of the road is a nice little sign that bulletpoints all of these stats showing how the Blues have got it goin' on, basically. Lower teen pregnancies, gun deaths, divorce rates, etc.

To their right? A crooked, junkyardish sign that says "Red States Ahead." Behind the sign is a barren, empty landscape with an apocalyptic Red sky. And on the side of their road is a fallen-apart sign bulletpointing all of the corresponding stats for Red states (with deliberate misspellings, to drive home the point).

And then, the tagline.. "which way do you want your state to go?" (or something like that), with the family making the smart choice as the camera pulls away for a wide-angle shot of them going down the Blue road.

Sure, the stats aren't cut-and-dry, but we can still use them as ammo.

[MissMarple]

23. Not a bad idea.

:)

[QC]

25. That would be a monumentally effective ad campaign...

for the Republicans.

Rove would cum in his pants. Imagine his joy at the realization that the Democrats have decided to spend millions not only validating the "librul elitist" stereotype but also universalizing his beloved red state/blue state meme.

Again, the phenomena you and others are pointing out here are more a matter of affluence (or the lack of it) than geography. Poor people live hard lives in so many ways, from crummy schools to bad health to stressed marriages to sheer hopelessness. If our party could ever wake up to that fact, then we might start doing some good in the world again.

[tedoll78]

28. The flying monkeys are gonna call us "elitists" no matter what.

I think we might as well just come-out and say it: we govern better than them. And a commercial along these lines is one clever way of doing so.

[QC]

30. Yeah, they're gonna say it no matter what.

So why validate it? Why do their work for them? Why allow them to set the terms of the debate yet again?

Besides, do you honestly think that you can get people to vote for you by calling them ignorant trash? Being smug and self-important with people only makes them hate you, and rightly so.

[tedoll78]

33. Where do I call them ignorant trash?

(other than the misspelled sign, which serves to drive home the point about education quality).

Is Alabama really, really gonna turn around and vote for us if we're nice to them? And Mississippi? Utah? You're a smart person; you know it ain't happening. They seem to have noooo problem bashing Massachusetts or New York or Vermont with little ill effect. Actually, come to think of it.. they've been WINNING lately, haven't they? Wow!

Maybe we should show a bit more gall when we campaign. If we hurt the feeling of those who aren't gonna vote for us anyway, to hell with 'em. Yup, I said it aloud. Crucify me.

I tend to think that Red/Blue is already part of the American political lexicon, and that we now are stuck with it, for better or worse. And I fully acknowledge your point that socioeconomic status is hugely intertwined with these issues. But a 30-minute ad targeted to swing state voters who see their state at a crossroads might speak volumes to them. It may be oversimplified, but the Red/Blue is something they speak, and the contrast could be powerful.

If you think we can condense the affluence idea into a catchy/memorable/effective commercial, I'd love it. I'm tired of playing the, "ooohh.. we'd better not.. we might offend them" game. That's lost races for us over and over again.

[QC]

35. Why not go after the rich sons of bitches who have sold us all out?

Why are we so afraid to offend them? It's not single mothers in trailers and country boys in pickup trucks who are running this country into the ground--it's the aristos, most of whom, incidentally, live in so-called "blue states."

As for writing states off, there's a hell of a lot more to power than the White House. We need those statehouses and congressional seats if we are to be a national party. (Alabama and Mississippi, by the way, both have Democratic legislatures, and in both states Democrats dominate local government.) Things are not so simple as your beloved map makes them appear.

[tedoll78]

36. I'd be all about going after them as well. No fear here.

We could show catchy commercials targeted to swing states showing how CEOs & CFOs did compared to, say, laid-off workers in that state. Or people who had to take a pay cut or a loss in health benefits so that the company could stay afloat while the Big Cheese got a $10 million "performance bonus."

Another idea I've been thinking about is a "follow the money" ad on television, changed weekly. We could trace Person X giving Candidate Y {this amount of money} during the Campaign of 2002/2004/etc. Then, we can point to specific government policy decisions that benefit Person X's business while screwing-over "the Little Guy." I'd love to see a cut-and-dry ad campaign of that sort on television.

And BTW.. yes, yes, it isn't as simple as red & blue - I think I've made my agreement with you on that point more than clear, and yet you still insist on attempting to nail me over & over with it. It's tired - I get your point. Zzzzz...

[QC]

37. "It's tired - I get your point. Zzzzz..."

OK, I'll grant you that. My apologies. Imagine how tired others of us here are of being hit in the head with that one. It's been nonstop since the election. Smug jackasses like the one at post #24 act like kids who have just discovered their genitals--they just can't let go!

The ad ideas are absolutely wonderful. It's time we rediscovered class war. By playing the kulturkampf game, we only allow the Republicans to set the rules. That's why they're kicking our asses.

[MissMarple]

29. Hmm...maybe. But some sort of juxtaposition could be effective.

What about Republican corporate farm operations opposite impoverished family farmers, or wealthy Republican suburbanite women opposite out of work factory women, turned house cleaners. How about Shaker Heights high schools, complete with Beemer dominated student parking lots opposite impoverished rural Kansas high schools with oil burning school buses? And what about martini sipping 20 something young Republicans expensively and provocatively clad opposite jobless church going Pentecostals? Would something along those lines work? You could even have a respectable Republican mom taking little sissy in for birth control pills, or(gasp) an abortion in an expensive city clinic. She could tell her red white and blue suited friends (wink wink) that it is just uh...an appendectomy.

All inspired by "What's the Matter With Kansas?"

[QC]

32. Those are excellent ideas because they get at the class realities.

Some people are so hung up on maps and pretty colors that they have forgotten who's really running this country--it's not single mothers in trailers.

[tedoll78]

34. I like!

And I really really need to get my hands on that book..

[Name removed]

24. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[QC]

26. You, sir, are part of the problem. n/t

[MissMarple]

31. Honey, you need to get out more. Alabama is not like Bangladesh.

No way, no how. Huh uh. :)

[Name removed]

40. Deleted message

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[Moderator]

41. Locking

While the statistics are correct, this has degeneratred into bash an entire segment of the population. Many DUers hail from these states and need our support while they attempt to educate their neighbors.

Thank You.