Hobson's Choice
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Red in a red state
Perhaps I'm betraying my unusually short attention span, but I'm now officially fed up with this "blue state-red state" crap.
I've just come from reading a Dan Savage column, proclaiming that we are no longer a nation, merely pockets of civilization surrounded by barbarism. I'm a big Dan Savage fan; I've read his book on adoption; I loved his coverage of the Gary Bauer campaign for Salon. But his diatribe just ignited all the annoyance I've been feeling about "blue state-red state" for the last two weeks.
I'm so tired of hearing folks in the "blue states" talk about the red states like no one here voted for Kerry in the homophobic wasteland. I'm tired of hearing the words "dumb" applied to entire states. I'm even more fed up with listening to red-staters talk about how stupid all their fellow West Virginians and all people in other red states must be.
Now, maybe I'm not understanding the election results correctly; maybe I'm reading the county maps wrong. But I didn't notice many states that had landslides. Granted, I don't think that we ought count on a Democratic victory in Wyoming any time soon, and the Republicans can probably leave Massachusetts alone. But instead of quantifying entire states by their electoral college votes, how about this?
Millions of people in almost every red state voted for Kerry; millions of people in the blue states voted for Bush.
Even if those numbers didn't add up to a majority for the desired candidate, millions of people are not statistically negligible.
So it pisses me off to hear these f$*kwits talking about how dumb and wrong the "red states" are. Because how much do you think I want to work with those folks now that I've heard myself and every other progressive West Virginian described as a waste? And I'm pretty far to the left; imagine how endeared regular democrats in the red states must be feeling.
There's been a lot of talk this election season about how democrats do not deserve the label "liberal elite." Why, people ask, are democrats called elitists when Republicans are the rich ones who want to screw the poor people?
Folks, it's the behavior that we have seen in the last two weeks, the trashing of the red states, the hurling of names and cultural stereotypes. That's what _earns_ the "liberal elite" label. It's that suggestion just below the surface that the words "hillbilly" or "cracker" might be about to be uttered.
Now, don't worry too much: I'd rather work with folks who think I'm philistine who ought to have health insurance, than with folks who'll pretend to watch NASCAR while reaming me of my rights. I'm here to work for a democratic future, and I'm weeping over this election . But it doesn't mean I have to like those people who are promoting this "blue-state/red-state" division, especially when I think it does a lot to further future Republican victories.
2:46 p.m. - 2004-11-18
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