Reddest of the Red, Bluest of the Blue

by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist

Howard Dean, the out-going Chairman of the Democratic National Committee, came to his position four years ago with a desire to get away from the national slugfest over just two states, Florida and Ohio. Dean envisioned a fifty-state strategy in which the Democratic Party would be politically aggressive in every state of the union. Though many in both of the major national parties blithely smirked at Dean’s naiveté, he proved to be right on the mark. Dr. Dean realized that the voting population is getting younger and they are better educated - two demographics just aching to be courted by the Democrats.

Barack Obama also recognized the value of a national campaign. His smart Internet organization gave him an enormous money edge that allowed him to expand his campaign into states that have been traditionally Republican. This aggressive posture in Red states forced the McCain campaign to spend money and energy in states that they could have ignored in more ordinary circumstances.

The fifty-state strategy was effective. Team Obama won in places where Kerry and even Clinton had not been successful. Virginia turned blue for the first time in forty years. North Carolina also surprised many by finding its way into the Democratic column. Florida and Ohio, the two states that had placed and kept George Bush in the White House, went to Obama, as did normally Republican Nevada, Colorado, and New Mexico. Obama even took one electoral vote from Republican Nebraska.

By and large, the United States is much more purple today than it is blue or red, lending credence to President-elect Obama’s sage observation that “we are not a red America or a blue America, but the United States of America.”

There are, however, still some parts of the country that are resistant to turning purple. The presidential election results of 2008 would indicate that Hawaii (the birthplace of Obama) and much of New England are unabashedly blue. In fact, Obama won all of the counties in Hawaii, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Connecticut, and Vermont, with little Vermont giving him his highest percentage of votes of any of the states – a whopping sixty-eight percent!

And which state was the reddest of the red? Oklahoma won that title hands-down! Oklahoma was the only state in the Union in which McCain won every county. (Even the Mormon bastions of Utah and Idaho gave up some counties to Obama!) Oklahoma also gave McCain his largest statewide win with sixty-six percent of the votes.

Those liberals seeking communities rich in kindred spirits might do well to consider relocating (if they are not already there) to Hawaii or the northeastern United States. And if your thing is gun ownership, controlling what other people do in the privacy of their own bedrooms, and Christian zealotry, Oklahoma might just be your ideal comfort zone.

The rest of us may just have to hold our tongues as we slowly turn purple!