There are various symbols for the two (main) political parties in the US. Color-wise, Republicans/conservatives are red and Democrats/liberals are blue. There's talk about "red states" (which predominantly vote Republican) and "blue states" (which predominantly vote Democratic). It comes out more because we have the electoral college system which means that for presidential elections states vote collectively. (It's a stupid system, IMO, and it doesn't do what it was designed to do, but it's not likely to change anytime soon.)
It can be divisive. An "us vs them" mentality. The map (as explained on the page it came from - clicking on the map will also link you there) is colored based on the '04 presidential election. We're used to seeing such maps with the states colored as wholly red or blue, depending on where its electoral votes went. This one is based on the popular vote totals, a proportionate mixture of red and blue. It's a reminder that we're not so different, after all.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2008-10-27 03:13 pm (UTC)It can be divisive. An "us vs them" mentality. The map (as explained on the page it came from - clicking on the map will also link you there) is colored based on the '04 presidential election. We're used to seeing such maps with the states colored as wholly red or blue, depending on where its electoral votes went. This one is based on the popular vote totals, a proportionate mixture of red and blue. It's a reminder that we're not so different, after all.