# American Dopers: Red, Blue, Swing **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 21, 2012, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-dopers-red-blue-swing/622569 "2012-05-21T01:15:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2012, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-dopers-red-blue-swing/622569/1 "2012-05-21T01:15:24Z")
Do you live in a solidly Blue state, solidly Red state, or a swing state? ---
**Author:** ![GreasyJack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/df705f/32.png) [@GreasyJack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreasyJack)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2012, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-dopers-red-blue-swing/622569/2 "2012-05-21T01:38:21Z")
Can I call my state a swing state even though we’ve only gone for Democrats twice since '48? Republican is definitely the default assumption out here, but the right Democrat with a well-run campaign has no problems whatsoever winning state-level office and our national delegation is currently 2/3rds Democratic. I’m pretty sure that if the Democrats gave us some serious attention, they’d have a decent chance of winning, but neither side really does because we only have a piddly 3 EC votes. ---
**Author:** ![Capt\_Kirk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@Capt\_Kirk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt_Kirk)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2012, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-dopers-red-blue-swing/622569/3 "2012-05-21T01:59:52Z")
I live in a small sea of blue, surrounded in an ocean of red. Welcome to Texas ---
**Author:** ![jebert](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ec9cab/32.png) [@jebert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jebert)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2012, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-dopers-red-blue-swing/622569/4 "2012-05-21T02:01:44Z")
My state used to be a bellwether but has recently turned red. Which makes me blue. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2012, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-dopers-red-blue-swing/622569/5 "2012-05-21T02:05:07Z")
Switch 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2012, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-dopers-red-blue-swing/622569/6 "2012-05-21T02:23:40Z")
I am not a big fan of the red/blue divide to say the least. It is color coding for people who’s major ability at noticing nuances extends to traffic lights and they want to apply that to everything. I live in Massachusetts. It is one of the most heavily ‘blue states’ in the nation yet it has produced several great conservative (in a New England kind of way) Republican governors. Mitt Romney is among those so the whole nation get to judge a Republican Presidential candidate from Massachusetts in a few months. Ronmey was a really good governor and Scott Brown is a really good military, conservative Republican Senator who came out of nowhere to fill Ted Kennedy’s vacant seat after his death. The main thing I can say about Massachusetts conservatives is that they tend to be unsually good because of the default thinking they have to overcome and the people that can overcome those odds show it. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2012, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-dopers-red-blue-swing/622569/7 "2012-05-21T02:43:50Z")
If the poll combined the last two choices, would the last entry be call the Red/Swing line? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Man\_With\_The\_Golden\_Gun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dc4da7/32.png) [@The\_Man\_With\_The\_Golden\_Gun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Man_With_The_Golden_Gun)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2012, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-dopers-red-blue-swing/622569/8 "2012-05-21T02:55:38Z")
Ohio here. Bottom half, red. Top half, swing. ---
**Author:** ![Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e4f/32.png) [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_is_the_new_Analog)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2012, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-dopers-red-blue-swing/622569/9 "2012-05-21T03:22:03Z")
Florida. We decide things…by screwing up our voting system. Yay, us! -D/a ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2012, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-dopers-red-blue-swing/622569/10 "2012-05-21T06:23:54Z")
> [@The\_Man\_With\_The\_Golden\_Gun](#): > > Ohio here. Bottom half, red. Top half, swing. I think this is true of the states with the Ohio River as their southern border. Am I right about that **MWGG**? ---
**Author:** ![RadicalPi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/radicalpi/32/9806_2.png) [@RadicalPi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RadicalPi)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2012, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-dopers-red-blue-swing/622569/11 "2012-05-21T07:14:43Z")
> [@etv78](#): > > I think this is true of the states with the Ohio River as their southern border. Am I right about that **MWGG**? Well, Illinois is solidly blue, but the south half of the state is pretty red. ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2012, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-dopers-red-blue-swing/622569/12 "2012-05-21T07:22:05Z")
> [@RadicalPi](#): > > Well, Illinois is solidly blue, but the south half of the state is pretty red. So I guess my answer is “yes”? 🆒 BTW, awesome time stamp/poster combo! ---
**Author:** ![The\_Man\_With\_The\_Golden\_Gun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dc4da7/32.png) [@The\_Man\_With\_The\_Golden\_Gun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Man_With_The_Golden_Gun)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2012, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-dopers-red-blue-swing/622569/13 "2012-05-21T07:29:25Z")
> [@etv78](#): > > I think this is true of the states with the Ohio River as their southern border. Am I right about that **MWGG**? It’s true about Ohio, but I don’t know enough about the politics of the others to say. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2012, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-dopers-red-blue-swing/622569/14 "2012-05-21T10:56:41Z")
Overall, Maryland is blue, but the area where I live is way too red for me. By that, I mean there are way too many folks who just parrot their favorite pundits and love to spew hateful comments. I like to think I’m moderate - I find things I agree/disagree with in both parties, but I don’t get crazy about any of them. I pretty much avoid political discussions. But I do think Palin is a total loon and I lost all respect I had for McCain when he dragged her into the spotlight. ---
**Author:** ![pullin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c57346/32.png) [@pullin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pullin)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2012, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-dopers-red-blue-swing/622569/15 "2012-05-21T11:57:01Z")
Red. (see location) ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2012, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-dopers-red-blue-swing/622569/16 "2012-05-21T13:43:02Z")
Vermont…pretty damn blue, with a couple exceptions (last governor was a Republican.) ---
**Author:** ![LawMonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@LawMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LawMonkey)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2012, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-dopers-red-blue-swing/622569/17 "2012-05-21T14:32:38Z")
New York; orginally from Ohio. It’s oddly liberating to know that I can now vote for whomever I damn well please in the Presidential contest and it won’t mean a damn thing. ---
**Author:** ![It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/it_s_not_rocket_surgery/32/312_2.png) [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/It_s_Not_Rocket_Surgery)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2012, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-dopers-red-blue-swing/622569/18 "2012-05-21T15:55:48Z")
I love the fact that on the poll, the blue states have a red bar and the red states have a blue bar. ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2012, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-dopers-red-blue-swing/622569/19 "2012-05-21T15:57:11Z")
Nevada - thanks to all of us ex-Californians who moved here, we have just become slightly more Blue…especially Clark County (greater metropolitan Las Vegas area). Still, there are some pretty heavy Red pockets outside of Clark County that make this fragile majority iffy, depending on voter turnout. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2012, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-dopers-red-blue-swing/622569/20 "2012-05-21T17:28:07Z")
My state is a north-to-south gradient of bluish-purple to reddish-purple. IOW, a swing. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-dopers-red-blue-swing/622569.md?page=2)