As I’ve said before, I live in Colorado. Colorado is considered a “red state”, which is a term I don’t care for much. Lots of liberals live and vote in red states. Quite a few conservatives live and vote in blue states. In fact, I think it’s more accurate to say that most of America is different shades of purple, and it would be wiser to realize that while there may be red and blue people in this country, most of us live near some of each. Even the supposedly “solid red” south has large swaths of liberal voters, and a lot of purple too. The only parts of the west that are bright red are places mostly inhabited by cows.
I love that map. I’ve looked at it over and over. The purpleness of Colorado explains why we elected one of only two new Democratic senators this year (Salazar’s very moderate, it’s true; he’s a good fit for Colorado). We also approved progressive funding for schools, mass transit, and renewable energy, and returned control of our state senate and legislature to the Democrats for the first time in 50 years.
There are many other visual ways of looking at the election data, and they show the red state/blue state scheme is completely inadequate. Don’t let the MSM* fool you into simplicity. Be purple!
*MainStream Media