I'm irritated when people use the term "Blue State"

[XemaSab]

I live in California, but my county is SOLID red. There's not a blue precinct within 2 1/2 hours of here.

People from the Bay Area say "Oh, I live in a BLUE state" as though it's a point of pride, and I just grind my teeth. It's not out of jealousy, it's out of frustration that my fellow Californians think they've won the war and there are no battles left to fight.

Anyone else?

[Crazy Guggenheim]

1. Well the STATE blue.

:popcorn:

[RagingInMiami]

2. I get irritated when they call Florida a "red state"

Not only was the vote stolen twice down here, I live in Miami-Dade County, one of four counties in South Florida that are solidly blue.

[LiberalAndProud]

27. You don't have to convince me.

Jeb Bush, Kathleen Harris and the voting machines are red.

Gore won in Florida by 10s of thousands of votes in a fair election, That's documented. Who knows what happened in 2004?

Your state is royal blue.

[laheina]

3. I'm in CA, and I live in a red area.

It makes me feel better to remember that LA and the Bay are blue--and that the carry the state with them.

As for my neighbors, they just give me something to work on.

[XemaSab]

5. I don't feel that way

We have a republican governor, and I feel like labeling the state "blue" is just a way for bay area and LA liberals to rest on their laurels.

What percent did the state vote for Kerry by? And Gore?

There's a huge amount of work to be done here.

[Crazy Guggenheim]

6. CA. is *almost* a swing state. If Arnold can get elected then a Repub

can win it for President.

:popcorn:

[XemaSab]

7. That's exactly what I'm saying

What are your feelings on this?

:popcorn:

[Crazy Guggenheim]

9. Shrink ..........

:popcorn:

[laheina]

10. We have let things slide a little.

I remember looking at precincts in the area after the election and thinking "what the hell happened?"

After all, we do have a reputation to protect. :)

[hfojvt]

16. 54.31 to 44.36

http://www.uselectionatlas.org/USPRESIDENT/state.php?year=2004&fips=6&f=0

"what is 5,144,795 besides more than the population of Kansas and Nebraska combined?
It is the number of people in California who voted for Bush.
What is 2,828,723 besides about the population of Vermont, Rhode Island and New Hampshire combined?
It is the number of people in Texas who voted for Kerry."

[Katherine Brengle]

4. most people, as i've said before, do not spend as much time thinking

about this stuff as we do.

The way I see it, I have a responsibility to do what I do because if I do not, there are people out there who will not gain access to the information that they need.

The best we can do is kindly and firmly explain these kinds of situations to our slightly less politically-educated brethren and hope that they too become curious to learn more.

Education leads to liberalism, just remember that. :)

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

8. Agreed.. the implication is that the "Red" states can never be "Blue", and

the "Blue" states can never be "Red". Then why do anything, LOL.

[alittlelark]

11. I'm from your Blue State - I say w/ PRIDE that I am BLUE

You are in a rural area w/ lower levels of education ... ie-red areas. It's OK. If I permanently moved to our Pagosa Springs, CO property I would be in the same boat.

The higher the education level of a group of ppl the more likely they are to be liberal.

[XemaSab]

14. You personally may be Blue

But 3/4 of the land area of the state ain't.

[Gormy Cuss]

24. I'm in a purple county in the SF Bay Area.

My county is purple but ten years ago it was red. That's why I'm satisfied with Tauscher as my MOC (a DLCer) because a liberal would not get elected in my part of the county. A moderate Democrat is the best we can do right now. Contrary to the assertion of another poster, this area has many well-educated, well-paid residents and most are solid Republican conservative voters. They'd vote for a rock with an R after its name. In other parts of the county, liberals are elected with ease thanks to the the mostly high school educated blue collar or no collar residents. Education level is not a good indication of political ideology. The urban/rural ideological tendencies on the other hand are well documented. It's one of the reasons that Democrats must remember to leave a place at the table for moderates. There are many fiscal conservatives in rural areas who are liberal on social policy.

I use the land area comparison too. There really aren't that many acres of liberaldom in this state.

[Leopolds Ghost]

30. That's not a good attitude to have about it...

What's OK about low levels of education in rural areas? I thought that was one of the few things liberals are supposed to stand for anymore, now that we aren't allowed to support welfare etc. What's OK about assuming that rural people are ignorant rednecks? Ever considered that many folks don't vote dem because they see it as the party of urban elite. And they aren't half wrong. When was the last time the Democratic party could be safely described as the party of the working class -- black or white? Look at the leadership.

[Nutmegger]

12. Well I kind of see your POV

Come over to CT and I'll show you some "Red" towns run by some :puke:'s.

And I bet Texas has some "Blue" towns too.

[XemaSab]

13. Some of the top 10 "blue" counties in the COUNTRY

are in Texas.

Starr, Zapata... VERY VERY Blue.

[rwenos]

15. Bluest and Reddest

Anybody who knows anything about California knows we have some of the reddest and some of the bluest counties in the US, right here in Cali.

I went to law school in OC, and practice law in West Los Angeles. Thirty miles, and a whole world away. LA Cops drive to Bakersfield to join Klan Klaverns. Twenty miles from UC Berkeley, a poor Black kid who fell asleep on a BART train got lynched at 2:00 a.m. (About 20 years ago.)

Cali's got the highest point in the Lower 48 (Mt. Whitney), the lowest point (Death Valley), 32 million people, 100,000 square miles, and is the home of the Black Panthers, the Weather Underground, the John Birch Society, Campus Crusade for Christ, Angelus Temple, and the craziest religious weirdo's in the world. Also Hollywood, million-dollar tract houses that cost $5,000 when they were built in 1950, San Francisco and the largest concentration of nuclear weapons on the face of the earth.

Strange place, but I love it.

[GRLMGC]

18. I love your description

I love this fucked up place too

[RoyGBiv]

17. Well, yes ...

But from the opposite direction.

I live in a red precinct in a red county in a red state. A lot of those living so-called blue states look suspiciously at anything I have to say because of it, as though the mere fact of them living in a *state* that had a majority vote Democratic in the last election really means one damn thing. Furthremore, "the battles left to fight" are to be waged in those "red" areas, the implication from many self-proclaimed "blue staters" being that we "red staters" can go stuff it; we're on our own.

That kind of thinking will get us absolutely nowhere.

[XemaSab]

25. My point exactly

(I feel your pain :D )

:toast:

[GRLMGC]

19. I agree with you

That's why I get frustrated when people assume that EVERY place in CA is like San Francisco or Santa Cruz. Most of counties are pretty conservative. I'm from Los Angeles by the way and I understand what the reality of California is. I also think CA is taken for granted and for some reason, we went for a Republican candidate, it would be pretty devastating considering our electoral power.

[Raine]

20. Yeah I'm in CA too

in Los Angeles County BUT the area I'm in is solidly red. x( I'm in a coastal city but it's the area where Hope Chapel actually started and it's solid repuke and fundie. :puke: I feel your pain. :-(

[rucky]

21. What's even worse is living in Ohio

the "Red State" that's really Blue (though you'd never know it in my county).

[theHandpuppet]

22. I also find it amusing when people refer to their state as blue...

.... only for the vote in the Presidential election, whilst some of these "blue" states also tout some of the most neofascist Repuke Governors and/or Senators. Think Cali, New York and Pennsylvania just for a few examples among many.

[Berry Cool]

23. Yeah, only downstate New York and Ithaca are really "blue."

The state may be a "blue state," but that's because of the disproportionately heavy downstate population. Geographically, there is far more "red territory" than blue in NY.

I live in Ohio so I know what that scene is like. My county is blue, there are big patches of blue in this state, but it's a "red state." *sigh*

[XemaSab]

26. There are also "red" states

which boast (or have recently boasted) Democratic senators, governors, or mayors.

Texas, Louisiana, Utah, and every other "red" state... all have enclaves of liberalism.

[DetroitProle]

29. its misleading, especially here

Detroit is blue(bluest in the nation, in fact). Ann Arbor is wildly liberal. The rest of the Michigan ranges from Michigan militia psychos to conservative strongholds out west.
As a result...we get democratic senators and governors, and our house is clogged with Republicans. Nothing ever gets done in this state.

(edit) oops, sorry, meant to reply to the original topic. I'm new to this and its late.

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

28. Yeah, I think for Californians who take too much "pride" in being "blue",

they need look no further than "what up with Ahnuld"? Indications of serious problems, at the very least.