Posted on 11/05/2004 6:46:44 PM PST by GaryL
They campaigned tirelessly, wrote huge cheques and threatened to leave the country if George W Bush retained the White House.
This week the gloom and dejection on America's "blue" coasts was palpable, as many Left-leaning Californians and New Yorkers weighed up the prospect of another four years of Republican rule.
In the country's political language, "blue" states are those won by Democrats and "red" states are Republican.
Colour-coded result maps showed coastal fringes of blue with a vast slab of red in between, as Republicans romped home in the south and mid-west, thanks in no small measure to evangelical Christians.
Gleeful Right-wing commentators are calling on the actor Alec Baldwin, who said he would leave if Mr Bush won the 2000 election, to make good on his promise now that Mr Bush has an uncontested victory. "This time there's no ambiguity to take refuge in," one said.
Unsurprisingly, few coastal dwellers who pledged to move abroad were actually packing their bags. But the quandary they face is acute. As one Californian put it: "Last time [when Democrats won the popular vote] was OK because we could feel righteous in our indignation. But this time, we really are the minority."
Instead, many have been counselling one another and focusing on the question of what kind of candidate could secure a Democratic win? A celebrity, perhaps, à la Reagan or Schwarzenegger? Activists scouring the Hollywood A-list singled out Tom Hanks.
Meanwhile, a humorous reworking of America's boundaries flew about the internet. It shows Democrat-voting coastal areas tied into a "United States of Canada" and the remaining "red" centre renamed "Jesusland".
"I don't feel like a member of society any more, I'm completely detached from the rest of the country," said Chris Jackson, 36, music director for the E! entertainment network in Los Angeles.
"If it wasn't for my new job and my girlfriend, I'd leave right now. I had made plans, even talked to a Canadian friend about possibly marrying to get citizenship. Can California, the rest of the west coast and New York secede?"
In Hollywood, the post-election depression has been particularly severe. During his campaign, Senator John Kerry called on a star-studded cast including Bruce Springsteen, whose blue-collar credentials gave the campaign a significant boost.
But Martin Grove, a columnist on the Hollywood Reporter, said the "media giants who own Hollywood" were quite satisfied.
The "real story" was of the two losers: Mr Kerry and Michael Moore, the anti-Bush film director whose Fahrenheit 9/11 lambasted the president.
"Moore campaigned vigorously with a 60-city tour of key states. This is a major defeat for him."
Don't want to be too nosy, but I'm curious... do you also live in a blue county in your blue state? I find it more interesting to look at the county by county map. On the west coast especially the blue states still have most of the area county-wise in red. Very telling detail to me.
Let them secede...in 30 days after they either starve to death or kill each other off...we'll move back in and take over....where exactly do they think their food comes from?
You're on the ping list!
Here's a corrected link to my vanity article that you might enjoy reading: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-vetscor/1247347/posts
Instead of States, I think in some cases it should be counties when you look at the map of CA -- it is obvious that State is really split!
For some reason, I get the feeling his girlfriend is not Canadian. Who was he planning to marry?
It is quite presumptuous for liberals to include all of CA, WA and OR in their comments. Remove LA, the Bay Area, Portland and Seattle and they become quite red. They are more isolated than they believe.
onyx,
well the bay area is blue but most of Northern and Central Calif is RED.......but i would help pack the bags of any of my bay area friends who want to get the hell out....i would even drive them to the border
Really stupid clipboard error up there. It should have been your statement about the seccession issue settled by the war of northern aggression. You probably figured that out... but I just noticed my goof.
O'Donnell should look at the allocation of funds before opening his mouth. Only this year has Oklahoma gotten back the amount of money it has paid in for road funds and that is only because of Cong Istook who said that states like ours and Texas deserve to have all their money returned to the State and not used in New York or New England. In the past, we were lucky to get 50 cents on the dollar of gasoline taxes paid to the Feds.
Nevertheless history seems to indicate that it isn't easy...unless the majority of the nation would like to see them go.
This will put the Dem recovery off for another decade...
Meek, please post that Bush COUNTY map here.
I think it's needed.
CA is red in few counties,
albeit, Northern CA is a lost
cause, always hoped it would
fall into the Pacific.
As congressional districts are re-drawn so can states.
It's time for Republicans to resurrect the Underground Railroad.
Good grief: Communists, perverts, elitists...
Secede!, LEAVE! or GET OVER YOURSELVES!!!
Immigration but no Secessions!!
Where will the blue states get their food? Dedicated labor force? Military?
I was making a list of everything we have in the Red States and it hit me -- why do we need the Blue States? We could sell our oil and gas to the Red States and make a ton of money! Where do they (blue states) think most of the rawa products for their food the eat comes from?
Thanks for the Laurence O'Donnell reference! That's one I missed. I'll definitely add it to my list!
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