# Red states vs. Blue states in 2012 **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 5, 2008, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-states-vs-blue-states-in-2012/471300 "2008-11-05T17:23:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Death\_of\_Rats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a6a055/32.png) [@Death\_of\_Rats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Death_of_Rats)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2008, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-states-vs-blue-states-in-2012/471300/1 "2008-11-05T17:23:54Z")
In recent tradition, television coverage of presidential elections used Red to indicate the incumbent and Blue for the challanging party. Now that the Dems will be the incumbent and with the Red and Blue so closely tied with the political division in America, in 2012 will the Dems be Red and the Reps Blue as the tradition has been or will they keep Dems Blue and Reps Red as they have come to be identified in the last two elections or will they need a whole new color scheme to break away from the negitive associations that the Red vs. Blue meme has developed in our society on both sides? I think they should go with Pink and Chartreuse. You can hold a good hate talking about Pink and Chartreuse. šŸ™‚ ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2008, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-states-vs-blue-states-in-2012/471300/2 "2008-11-05T17:56:04Z")
Everybody knows what red and blue mean. Weā€™re stuck with it. ---
**Author:** ![Dignan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f07891/32.png) [@Dignan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dignan)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2008, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-states-vs-blue-states-in-2012/471300/3 "2008-11-06T04:23:14Z")
The Red = Republicans, Blue = Democrats is part of the cultural lexicon now. I think in 1992 that the colors were different on the different networks. Over the last eight years the particular colors have become too closely identified with each respective party. Theyā€™re here to stay. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2008, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-states-vs-blue-states-in-2012/471300/4 "2008-11-06T13:29:21Z")
> [@Death\_of\_Rats](#): > > In recent tradition, television coverage of presidential elections used Red to indicate the incumbent and Blue for the challanging party. That wasnā€™t universally true, and 2000 killed it anyway. Weā€™re stuck with the current color scheme at least for a while. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2008, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-states-vs-blue-states-in-2012/471300/5 "2008-11-06T13:46:58Z")
Since ā€œblue stateā€ and ā€œred stateā€ have entered the political lexicon, making a change will only create massive confusion. ā€œBlue stateā€ means ā€œDemocratic stateā€ and changing that to mean ā€œRepublican stateā€ is not going to work. ---
**Author:** ![42fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/4/b487fb/32.png) [@42fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/42fish)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2008, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-states-vs-blue-states-in-2012/471300/6 "2008-11-06T15:45:48Z")
> [@Death\_of\_Rats](#): > > In recent tradition, television coverage of presidential elections used Red to indicate the incumbent and Blue for the challanging party. Now that the Dems will be the incumbent and with the Red and Blue so closely tied with the political division in America, in 2012 will the Dems be Red and the Reps Blue as the tradition has been or will they keep Dems Blue and Reps Red as they have come to be identified in the last two elections or will they need a whole new color scheme to break away from the negitive associations that the Red vs. Blue meme has developed in our society on both sides? > > I think they should go with Pink and Chartreuse. You can hold a good hate talking about Pink and Chartreuse. šŸ™‚ I think each election they should go down to the Home Depot, grab a fistful of those paint color sample things, throw them in a bag, and draw two at random for the major parties. So in 2012, we could have a bitter battle between, say, the hunter green states and the eggshell states. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Carrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@Captain\_Carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Carrot)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2008, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-states-vs-blue-states-in-2012/471300/7 "2008-11-06T20:28:43Z")
> [@Death of Rats](#): > > In recent tradition, television coverage of presidential elections used Red to indicate the incumbent and Blue for the challenging party. Thatā€™s not recent tradition, and didnā€™t happen even in 2000, which is when this color scheme was set for good. If it had been that way in 2000, Bush would have been blue and Gore red, which obviously was and is not the case. For better or for worse, any political map will use red for areas that vote for a Republican and blue for areas that vote for a Democrat. ---
**Author:** ![kk\_fusion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kk_fusion/32/15276_2.png) [@kk\_fusion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kk_fusion)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2008, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-states-vs-blue-states-in-2012/471300/8 "2008-11-07T13:14:49Z")
FWIW, [hereā€™s](http://www.uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/national.php?year=2008&off=0&elect=0&f=0) a site with a different color scheme. ---
**Author:** ![Gotterfunken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/58956e/32.png) [@Gotterfunken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gotterfunken)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2008, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-states-vs-blue-states-in-2012/471300/9 "2008-11-07T21:57:52Z")
> [@Death\_of\_Rats](#): > > I think they should go with Pink and Chartreuse. You can hold a good hate talking about Pink and Chartreuse. šŸ™‚ According to this [electoral map on The Onion](http://www.theonion.com/content/node/89154), Nevada is now coded in chartreuse, and is unhappy with it. šŸ˜‰