I'm still wondering how conservative states got colored red.
"I'm still wondering how conservative states got colored red."
Let's just take it as "the red states are the life's blood of the nation - without them the nation couldn't survive.
:)
http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery?sm1=b2ZmLXRoZS1jdWZmIGFuZCAtIHBvbGl0aWNhbGx5IHNwZWFraW5nLCBhdCBsZWFzdCAtIG9mZi1jb2xvciBqb2tlIGFib3V0IOKAnHJlZCBzdGF0ZXPigJ0gZHVyaW5nIGEgY29tbWVuY2VtZW50IHNwZWVjaCBpbiBNYXkuICBUaGUgSnVkaWNpYWwgQ29uZHVjdCBDb21taXNzaW9uIGludmVzdGlnYXRlZCBNYXJzaGFsbCBhZnRlciBhIGNvbXBsYWludCB3YXMg&fw=11&fc=0&ss=-1&es=-1&gwp=11&ver=1.0.2.84&method=1
Since the increased popularity of color television, the national colors of red and blue have traditionally been used by the mass media to represent the two major parties in U.S. elections. According to Washington Monthly, networks have assigned these colors to the two major parties based on a system designed to prevent bias or the perception of bias [1] (http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2004_11/005157.php). This system alternates the color assigned to the candidate of the incumbent party for every election. This is demonstrated in the table to the right.
In keeping with this system, most (but not all) of the major U.S. outlets were using red for the Republicans and blue for the Democrats for the elections of 2000 and 2004. Political commentators and ordinary citizens alike have broadly adopted the practice of referring to U.S. states and counties as either "red " or "blue" based on the results of the last election.
It is no accident whatsoever.
Just another one of those "little", "unimportant", "minor" things that the media does in their successful efforts at taking a side or malingning someone else without overtly doing so.
I always tell people: Things that you see in a newspaper or on the network news did not get there by accident, and that is most definitely true at the national level. A good deal of thought goes into it (not always constructive or intelligent, but definitely purposeful) If you see a story on the front page, it is there for a specific reason. If it is buried on page 12, same thing.
Red...as in Healthy Red blooded Americans.
Blue...the color of the effete elitists & corpses.