Ever seen a map of the United States with the Republican states in Red and the Democrat States in Blue? That is where Red State comes from.
Used to be the other way around...the libs got tired of self advertisong that they were communists.
Yes, of course, and this abhorrent practice is basically a sleight-of-hand perpetrated originally by Dan Rather and his leftwing journalistic colleagues to help persuade the American public that the Democrat Party is not "communism light."
Moreover, Erickson has played the role of of what the communists used to call a useful idiot by continuing the notion that Republicans are "reds" while Democrats are "blues" -- the latter being the formerly standard color for patriots. Erick is not the only pundit or commentator on our side to make this naive mistake, but I rank him among the worst offenders.