> Woj, all, I think the maps show that this is cannot be simply
> reduced to a "North/South" dynamic at all. While the Blue states
> were in the north, there were also many northern states that went
> red, too. And the maps showing pockets of blue throughout cannot be
> ignored.
Yes, the political map of the U.S. is much more complex than the headline-writers make it seem. Plus, of course, the very medium we are using (which our fearless Leader dubbed "the internets") is becoming more of a force for unifying scattered political comrades day by day.
This was familiar to me as a kid, growing up in Indianapolis, which was a "blue" part of a very "red" state (to use the current terminology -- BTW, it seems that this is becoming almost standard terminology, and will eventually make coming generations very puzzled when they discover that "red" used to mean "left"). During the "McCarthy period," there were plenty of rightists around even in this metropolis amid the cornfields, but it was insulated enough from the sickest wing of the Right for my family to at least retain their sanity.
Jon Johanning // jjohanning at igc.org __________________________________ A sympathetic Scot summed it all up very neatly in the remark, 'You should make a point of trying every experience once, excepting incest and folk-dancing.' -- Sir Arnold Bax