Blue State? Red State? Purple Nation?
I am so tired of hearing the terms 'blue state' and 'red state' in referring to different parts of our country. This has been going on for several years now and it is something that is completely false and irrelevant. It is a media and party driven division of our country, and there has been too much division of our country already. It needs to stop.
The only time this designation is truly valid is during elections, and basically only during presidential elections. It is a way to keep track of how the electoral votes are going. The rest of the time it is a false portrayal of our country and our states. Certainly there are states that tend to lean republican or democrat, but there are none that are exclusively one party states.
In my part of the country there are blue skies, blue ridge mountains, blue waters, green leaves in summer, red, gold and brown leaves in fall, red skies in the evening or morning, gray rocks, red dirt, and a myriad of other colors. Yet the media says I live in a red state. That is based solely on how the state as a whole has voted in recent presidential elections.
Georgia was a democratic state when I was growing up . In today's vernacular, it was a solid blue state. There was not a republican governor in the state until 4 years ago. But we did not call it blue. Even when it was so strongly democratic in it's overall vote, there were a large number of republicans in the state. Many of them were my friends and relatives.
Now the media, pundits, and political parties refer to Georgia as being a 'red' state. But I go to democratic meetings with large numbers of Georgia residents that claim to be democrats. Our local elected officials in Union County are democrats. Our state representative is a democrat. We have been outnumbered in recent state and national elections, but there are still a lot of us here.
If you go through the votes of the last several elections and mix the red and blue colors by the numbers voted, you will find something interesting. There will be pockets that are pretty solidly red and pockets that are pretty solidly blue. Overall, though you will find that almost the entire nation will look purple.
This color designation of states is certainly not the worst thing happening in our country. It is, however, another symptom of the divisions that have been promoted over the last 20 or 25 years. Those divisions are much older than that, but they have been exacerbated during this stated time. Our citizens are not one issue citizens any more than any party is a one issue party. Our country is also not a one party country. For our country to be its best, it needs a strong two party system.
The two parties have taken ever widening positions on a national level to rally what they consider to be their base. They need to reconsider what their base really is. When the majority of the country is moderate on most issues they need to look at them carefully. They should not abandon their core beliefs, but they should look for those areas where they can lean just a little less left or right without losing their integrity.
When the election is over, the sharpest divisions should also be over. Those elected are chosen to represent all the citizens of their district to the best of their ability. Naturally, some constituents will never agree with many positions of their elected official. However, they should feel that they could contact those officials about their concerns and have those concerns taken seriously.
The elected officials should spend more time on government of the people, by the people, and for the people and less time campaigning and raising money for their next election. Our media and officials can help by declaring all states in the country 'red, white, and blue'. At least for a day or two.
The only time this designation is truly valid is during elections, and basically only during presidential elections. It is a way to keep track of how the electoral votes are going. The rest of the time it is a false portrayal of our country and our states. Certainly there are states that tend to lean republican or democrat, but there are none that are exclusively one party states.
In my part of the country there are blue skies, blue ridge mountains, blue waters, green leaves in summer, red, gold and brown leaves in fall, red skies in the evening or morning, gray rocks, red dirt, and a myriad of other colors. Yet the media says I live in a red state. That is based solely on how the state as a whole has voted in recent presidential elections.
Georgia was a democratic state when I was growing up . In today's vernacular, it was a solid blue state. There was not a republican governor in the state until 4 years ago. But we did not call it blue. Even when it was so strongly democratic in it's overall vote, there were a large number of republicans in the state. Many of them were my friends and relatives.
Now the media, pundits, and political parties refer to Georgia as being a 'red' state. But I go to democratic meetings with large numbers of Georgia residents that claim to be democrats. Our local elected officials in Union County are democrats. Our state representative is a democrat. We have been outnumbered in recent state and national elections, but there are still a lot of us here.
If you go through the votes of the last several elections and mix the red and blue colors by the numbers voted, you will find something interesting. There will be pockets that are pretty solidly red and pockets that are pretty solidly blue. Overall, though you will find that almost the entire nation will look purple.
This color designation of states is certainly not the worst thing happening in our country. It is, however, another symptom of the divisions that have been promoted over the last 20 or 25 years. Those divisions are much older than that, but they have been exacerbated during this stated time. Our citizens are not one issue citizens any more than any party is a one issue party. Our country is also not a one party country. For our country to be its best, it needs a strong two party system.
The two parties have taken ever widening positions on a national level to rally what they consider to be their base. They need to reconsider what their base really is. When the majority of the country is moderate on most issues they need to look at them carefully. They should not abandon their core beliefs, but they should look for those areas where they can lean just a little less left or right without losing their integrity.
When the election is over, the sharpest divisions should also be over. Those elected are chosen to represent all the citizens of their district to the best of their ability. Naturally, some constituents will never agree with many positions of their elected official. However, they should feel that they could contact those officials about their concerns and have those concerns taken seriously.
The elected officials should spend more time on government of the people, by the people, and for the people and less time campaigning and raising money for their next election. Our media and officials can help by declaring all states in the country 'red, white, and blue'. At least for a day or two.
posted by NHThomas | 9:41 AM
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