# Rush Limbaugh wants to swap D-R colors (or at least change the subject) **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 26, 2008, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-limbaugh-wants-to-swap-d-r-colors-or-at-least-change-the-subject/439208 "2008-02-26T12:07:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2008, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-limbaugh-wants-to-swap-d-r-colors-or-at-least-change-the-subject/439208/21 "2008-02-26T17:52:18Z")
[QUOTE=RickJay] And in fact, that used to be (generally, but not universally) the case in the USA; it’s only in the last ten or twelve years that the colors switched. When Reagan won almost the whole country in 1984, it was called “the sea of blue” or “the blue wave” during live coverage of the election results. As recently as 1992, blue was the color commonly assigned to Republicans, red to Democrats. The 2000 election was the first time red became solidly attached to the Republicans and blue to the Democrats. That said, as I mentioned, Limbaugh is wrong (surprise!) about why it’s now red for Republican and blue for Democrat; it’s that way because the Bush and Gore campaigns primarily used those colors in their 2000 Presidential runs. [/QUOTE] This is not correct. Until 2000, there was no accepted standard of assigning blue and red to the two major U.S. parties. Media tended to assign them randomly and switch them off from one election to another. In 1980, two networks were using blue for Republicans, and two were using red for Republicans. It was only on a network that was using blue for Republicans that the “sea of blue” comment was used; it was not universally applicable. In 2000, neither the Gore nor the Bush campaign chose one color or another as an explicit partisan symbol. The networks had randomly assigned blue to Gore and red to Bush for the television map and it was the overall controversy surrounding the election that led to those colors sticking more than they had in the past. ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2008, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-limbaugh-wants-to-swap-d-r-colors-or-at-least-change-the-subject/439208/22 "2008-02-26T18:17:21Z")
[QUOTE=acsenray] This is not correct. Until 2000, there was no accepted standard of assigning blue and red to the two major U.S. parties. Media tended to assign them randomly and switch them off from one election to another. In 1980, two networks were using blue for Republicans, and two were using red for Republicans. It was only on a network that was using blue for Republicans that the “sea of blue” comment was used; it was not universally applicable. In 2000, neither the Gore nor the Bush campaign chose one color or another as an explicit partisan symbol. The networks had randomly assigned blue to Gore and red to Bush for the television map and it was the overall controversy surrounding the election that led to those colors sticking more than they had in the past. [/QUOTE] I know the Word Detective (see my post #10) is an etymologist and not a political guy, but do you have a reference to support your claims or refute his? And, in keeping with the forum, Limbaugh continues to be a dick. ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2008, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-limbaugh-wants-to-swap-d-r-colors-or-at-least-change-the-subject/439208/23 "2008-02-26T18:34:22Z")
[QUOTE=Bayard] I know the Word Detective (see my post #10) is an etymologist and not a political guy, but do you have a reference to support your claims or refute his? And, in keeping with the forum, Limbaugh continues to be a dick. [/QUOTE] Hmm. The [Washington Post](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A17079-2004Nov1.html) makes it out to be a little more complicated than the Word Detective did. Maybe I’ll just start a GQ thread and quit hijacking. Oh, and, fuck Limbaugh. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2008, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-limbaugh-wants-to-swap-d-r-colors-or-at-least-change-the-subject/439208/24 "2008-02-26T18:45:59Z")
[QUOTE=Bayard] I know the Word Detective (see my post #10) is an etymologist and not a political guy, but do you have a reference to support your claims or refute his? [/QUOTE] I’ll note that the Word Detective himself doesn’t cite his sources. However, I don’t think what I said is irreconcilable to what he said. And both our stories refute the notion that Blue=Republican/Red=Democratic was ever a generally agreed standard. The important point, however, is that even if you accept the Word Detective’s word, **RickJay** is still wrong! wrong! wrong! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2008, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-limbaugh-wants-to-swap-d-r-colors-or-at-least-change-the-subject/439208/25 "2008-02-26T18:58:01Z")
[QUOTE=acsenray] The important point, however, is that even if you accept the Word Detective’s word, **RickJay** is still wrong! wrong! wrong! 😃 [/QUOTE] Note his location: Canadiastan. What the hell do they know about true-blue American politics? Don’t they speak Portuguese up there or something? ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2008, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-limbaugh-wants-to-swap-d-r-colors-or-at-least-change-the-subject/439208/26 "2008-02-26T19:01:13Z")
I seem to recall that there is a U.S. government agency whose election results maps are yellow, pink, and green, or something like that. Anyone have any idea what I might be talking about? ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2008, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-limbaugh-wants-to-swap-d-r-colors-or-at-least-change-the-subject/439208/27 "2008-02-26T19:59:42Z")
[QUOTE=acsenray] I seem to recall that there is a U.S. government agency whose election results maps are yellow, pink, and green, or something like that. Anyone have any idea what I might be talking about? [/QUOTE] The U.S. Army Camouflage Development Center’s “Hiding in a Preschool” Division? ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2008, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-limbaugh-wants-to-swap-d-r-colors-or-at-least-change-the-subject/439208/28 "2008-02-26T20:04:56Z")
[QUOTE=Liberal] A Hillary supporter stabbed an Obama supporter… [/QUOTE] Hillary is still proud of Ortiz’s support, however, because at least unlike an Obama supporter Ortiz didn’t just _talk_ about stabbing, he did it, and when he did he used his _own_ knife and not one “borrowed” from a friend in Massachusetts. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2008, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-limbaugh-wants-to-swap-d-r-colors-or-at-least-change-the-subject/439208/29 "2008-02-26T21:01:58Z")
You’d think with the national debt incurred under the Reagan and Bush administrations that a “Sea of Red” would have been a better fit. ---
**Author:** ![tds1273](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/df705f/32.png) [@tds1273](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tds1273)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2008, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-limbaugh-wants-to-swap-d-r-colors-or-at-least-change-the-subject/439208/30 "2008-02-26T21:14:09Z")
In the wake of the neo-con coup of the Republican party, I find the current color association quite fitting. Red being bloody, raging, and aggressive; blue being clean, serene, and peaceful. Now what would really impress me is if someone could make the case for the Green Party to be associated with the color orange. ETA:Good point **ShibbOleth**. Republicans being in the red is just too fitting. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2008, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-limbaugh-wants-to-swap-d-r-colors-or-at-least-change-the-subject/439208/31 "2008-02-26T21:34:20Z")
[QUOTE=Really Not All That Bright] I feel blue for the Pubs fits nicely- as in the blue hair of the old people in Lincolns who vote Republican, or the blue lips of people dying of pneumonia because they can’t afford private health insurance… [/QUOTE] …The party of blue bloods, blue balls (abstinence only!), blue laws… ---
**Author:** ![Orbifold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/779978/32.png) [@Orbifold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orbifold)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2008, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-limbaugh-wants-to-swap-d-r-colors-or-at-least-change-the-subject/439208/32 "2008-02-26T21:53:13Z")
> [@](#): > > If they can addle me, friends, with my superior intellect, rest assured they can addle you. Let’s see here… Oh, here’s an item! Two people got in a knife fight over Hillary versus Obama! Self-parody at its finest. ---
**Author:** ![Electrical\_Storm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ac8455/32.png) [@Electrical\_Storm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Electrical_Storm)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2008, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-limbaugh-wants-to-swap-d-r-colors-or-at-least-change-the-subject/439208/33 "2008-02-27T03:04:08Z")
[QUOTE=Enginerd] Well, they hire someone else to shoot you. Create jobs, spur the economy, etc. [/QUOTE] Well, actually, just before the shooter is eligible for retirement, they’ll outsource the shooting job. Rush has still got a little of the comedy gold left in him, even without (supposedly) the benefit of getting a buzz on before going on air. Wait, he’s _serious_ with this stuff? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Two\_and\_a\_Half\_Inches\_of\_Fun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ea666f/32.png) [@Two\_and\_a\_Half\_Inches\_of\_Fun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_and_a_Half_Inches_of_Fun)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2008, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-limbaugh-wants-to-swap-d-r-colors-or-at-least-change-the-subject/439208/34 "2008-02-27T03:18:41Z")
The liberal media reported Larry Craig, Republican, blue. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2008, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-limbaugh-wants-to-swap-d-r-colors-or-at-least-change-the-subject/439208/35 "2008-02-27T03:26:13Z")
I yield to **Captain Amazing** on why colors changed when. It’s pretty obvious what happened in 2000. In previous years, the colors were up there for Election Night, then put away the next day for another four years. Consequently, few people remembered which colors went with which party long enough to even notice it switched from time to time. But in 2000, the Red v. Blue map was up there for 37 rather intense days, and by the end of that time, it was embedded in the language. As far as Rush goes, who cares? Maybe it’s just what I read these days, but I get little impression anymore that he’s affecting the larger political debate in any meaningful way. His audience seems to be the loyal 30% who would vote Republican even if Bush, McCain, and Cheney were videotaped in a gay 3-way. ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_Door](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@Bill\_Door](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_Door)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2008, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-limbaugh-wants-to-swap-d-r-colors-or-at-least-change-the-subject/439208/36 "2008-02-27T03:29:47Z")
[QUOTE=Two and a Half Inches of Fun] The liberal media reported Larry Craig, Republican, blue. [/QUOTE] Actually, the past tense is spelled differently. That’s probably the source of the confusion. Correct it to “Larry Craig, Republican, blew” and it makes more sense. ---
**Author:** ![Two\_and\_a\_Half\_Inches\_of\_Fun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ea666f/32.png) [@Two\_and\_a\_Half\_Inches\_of\_Fun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_and_a_Half_Inches_of_Fun)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2008, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-limbaugh-wants-to-swap-d-r-colors-or-at-least-change-the-subject/439208/37 "2008-02-27T03:35:45Z")
[QUOTE=Bill Door] Actually, the past tense is spelled differently. That’s probably the source of the confusion. Correct it to “Larry Craig, Republican, blew” and it makes more sense. [/QUOTE] I was going back and forth with which way to take the bad pun. I decided to use the incorrect form. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2008, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-limbaugh-wants-to-swap-d-r-colors-or-at-least-change-the-subject/439208/38 "2008-02-27T04:20:31Z")
[QUOTE=RTFirefly] His audience seems to be the loyal 30% who would vote Republican even if Bush, McCain, and Cheney were videotaped in a gay 3-way. [/QUOTE] - Cracks open a new gallon of brain bleach \* ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2008, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-limbaugh-wants-to-swap-d-r-colors-or-at-least-change-the-subject/439208/39 "2008-02-27T11:13:05Z")
[QUOTE=EddyTeddyFreddy] - Cracks open a new gallon of brain bleach \* [/QUOTE] My work here is done. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Dunderman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2008, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-limbaugh-wants-to-swap-d-r-colors-or-at-least-change-the-subject/439208/40 "2008-02-27T13:44:30Z")
[QUOTE=T\_SQUARE] Also, Red Square was called that way before Karl Marx ever even thought of being born. [/QUOTE] And the name doesn’t seem to have anything to do with the colour red. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-limbaugh-wants-to-swap-d-r-colors-or-at-least-change-the-subject/439208.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-limbaugh-wants-to-swap-d-r-colors-or-at-least-change-the-subject/439208.md?page=3)