One State, Two State, Red State, Blue State

A better way to put it would be Red Region versus Blue region. Aside from the northeast, few states are solidly red or blue. By far, most areas in the country have an urban blue core surrounded by a red sea of rural residents. (Say THAT five times fast!)

Any city dwelling resident will tell you that there is a world of difference in attitudes betwixt the two. Rural reds find the attitudes of blue city dwellers incomprehensible and reprehensible, and vice versa. A tradition has long existed in America: the traditional suspicion of big cities and those who live within them.

I must say that my own prejudices lie with the so-called salt of the earth types. I do not believe them often able to make the right decisions. I believe they often to fall prey to superstition, demagogery, character assassination, and emotional appeals that have no basis in rationality.

The reason I broach this topic is to bring light to the fact that the recently elected Democratic majority in Congress contains some very conservative new membership. I admit to be suspicious that this tightrope act of appealing to rural residents while trying to shy away from labels like "liberal" and "tax and spend" will work.

Mostly, I wish to reframe the argument. I wish "liberal" wasn't synonymous with "child molester" in red states. I do not agree with the sort of pandering that recent Democrats have made to secure their own election. America is a conservative country, by in large, but I believe it needs to be taught WHY the Democratic party AND liberalism by in large is in its own best interest.

FDR was a liberal, but he was looked upon as a deity in the South after he pushed through the New Deal. My grandparents, both sets, talked about him in reverent terms. They never even considered the possibility of voting GOP--feeling that Republicans pandered only to the rich and influential.

My grandmother once said, "You only become a Republican when you get money!"

It will take something as ambitious as the New Deal to break the GOP chokehold on the Solid South. Though the Democrats have the Congress, American do not yet have a compelling reason to claim lifelong loyalty to the majority party.