# What color would the media use in case of a 3rd pary/independent win? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [October 15, 2016, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-color-would-the-media-use-in-case-of-a-3rd-pary-independent-win/768576 "2016-10-15T03:25:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2016, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-color-would-the-media-use-in-case-of-a-3rd-pary-independent-win/768576/1 "2016-10-15T03:25:14Z")
Since the turn of the century it’s become established that Red = Republican and Blue = Democrat, but do TV networks (& other media organizations) have a contingency plan was to what color to use if a 3rd party or independent candidate Presidential actually manage to win a state? Green for Jill Stein is obvious, but what color would they use if say Evan McMullin were to actually win Utah (which let’s face it is the only remotely plausible scenario where this would be an issue)? ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2016, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-color-would-the-media-use-in-case-of-a-3rd-pary-independent-win/768576/2 "2016-10-15T03:31:17Z")
Purple? ---
**Author:** ![Tzigone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Tzigone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tzigone)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2016, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-color-would-the-media-use-in-case-of-a-3rd-pary-independent-win/768576/3 "2016-10-15T03:33:18Z")
> [@Sunny\_Daze](#): > > Purple? Maybe, but I dislike it being a blend of the other two. I like yellow or maybe orange. I’m silly enough I’d want green if Stein won a state (which she won’t) ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2016, 9:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-color-would-the-media-use-in-case-of-a-3rd-pary-independent-win/768576/4 "2016-10-15T09:14:59Z")
Astonished. As in, color me astonished. ---
**Author:** ![Uniqueorn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uniqueorn/32/2807_2.png) [@Uniqueorn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uniqueorn)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2016, 9:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-color-would-the-media-use-in-case-of-a-3rd-pary-independent-win/768576/5 "2016-10-15T09:25:29Z")
When Perot was involved, his color was a dark gray, wasn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2016, 9:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-color-would-the-media-use-in-case-of-a-3rd-pary-independent-win/768576/6 "2016-10-15T09:37:21Z")
> [@Uniqueorn](#): > > When Perot was involved, his color was a dark gray, wasn’t it? No, yellow. Same for Anderson. As a strictly visual matter yellow is the easy choice, should the need arise. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2016, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-color-would-the-media-use-in-case-of-a-3rd-pary-independent-win/768576/7 "2016-10-15T12:07:55Z")
Seems to me the easiest way to go would be, y’know, red-white-and-blue. ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2016, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-color-would-the-media-use-in-case-of-a-3rd-pary-independent-win/768576/8 "2016-10-15T13:17:29Z")
They’re called primary colors for a reason. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2016, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-color-would-the-media-use-in-case-of-a-3rd-pary-independent-win/768576/9 "2016-10-15T13:49:33Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > Seems to me the easiest way to go would be, y’know, red-white-and-blue. White equals blank in most mapping/charting schemes. Green for the Green Party, Dour Gray for the Libertarians, and Spongebob Yellow for everyone else. ---
**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:** [October 15, 2016, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-color-would-the-media-use-in-case-of-a-3rd-pary-independent-win/768576/10 "2016-10-15T14:32:08Z")
Yellow, for any third party. It’s not even a difficult question. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2016, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-color-would-the-media-use-in-case-of-a-3rd-pary-independent-win/768576/11 "2016-10-15T14:33:58Z")
Green for green party Yellow for libertarians For other third parties? No idea. Maybe purple. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2016, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-color-would-the-media-use-in-case-of-a-3rd-pary-independent-win/768576/12 "2016-10-15T14:35:00Z")
> [@Uniqueorn](#): > > When Perot was involved, his color was a dark gray, wasn’t it? Light gray I think. > **[1992 United States presidential election](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_election,_1992)** > > George H. W. Bush > Republican > Bill Clinton > Democratic > The 1992 United States presidential election was the 52nd quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 3, 1992. Democratic Governor Bill Clinton of Arkansas defeated incumbent Republican President George H. W. Bush and independent businessman Ross Perot of Texas. The election marked the end of a period of Republican dominance in American presidential politics that began in 1968 (with 1976 being the sole exception), and also ... ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2016, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-color-would-the-media-use-in-case-of-a-3rd-pary-independent-win/768576/13 "2016-10-15T14:45:09Z")
Wikipedia uses orange: [1948](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_election,_1948), [1968](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_election,_1968) For [1860](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_election,_1860), when they needed a fourth color, they used green. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2016, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-color-would-the-media-use-in-case-of-a-3rd-pary-independent-win/768576/14 "2016-10-15T16:52:53Z")
Maybe the colors you see after smoking pot for the Libertarians. ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2016, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-color-would-the-media-use-in-case-of-a-3rd-pary-independent-win/768576/15 "2016-10-15T18:26:38Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > Seems to me the easiest way to go would be, y’know, red-white-and-blue. I think the color white is reserved for the alt-right Republican spinoff party. ---
**Author:** ![Kimera757](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kimera757/32/3765_2.png) [@Kimera757](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimera757)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2016, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-color-would-the-media-use-in-case-of-a-3rd-pary-independent-win/768576/16 "2016-10-15T21:59:27Z")
The Libertarian Party’s color is gold. It’s not very likely, but Johnson could win New Mexico, and either Johnson or McMullin could win Utah. You could have red, blue, gold and yellow… and yellow is pretty close to gold. The most recent poll seems to show Clinton moderately ahead in New Mexico. I think Johnson might have been doing better there at an earlier point in the election. ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2016, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-color-would-the-media-use-in-case-of-a-3rd-pary-independent-win/768576/17 "2016-10-16T02:10:58Z")
Octarine. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2016, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-color-would-the-media-use-in-case-of-a-3rd-pary-independent-win/768576/18 "2016-10-16T04:00:15Z")
According to my go-to news source… [QUOTE=Tiger Beat] Evan McMullin’s favorite color is puce. [/QUOTE] ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2016, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-color-would-the-media-use-in-case-of-a-3rd-pary-independent-win/768576/19 "2016-10-16T05:57:50Z")
538 is using a pink color for McMullin. ---
**Author:** ![coremelt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@coremelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coremelt)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2016, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-color-would-the-media-use-in-case-of-a-3rd-pary-independent-win/768576/20 "2016-10-16T06:31:01Z")
Wouldn’t it be up to the 3rd party to pick their own color to represent them? Thats the obvious solution. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-color-would-the-media-use-in-case-of-a-3rd-pary-independent-win/768576.md?page=2)