Focus on the Exurbs' Needs
As far as if the exurbs lean more toward being red or blue, I'm going to let other folks fight that battle. What I think is important to realize is that exurbs NEED an active government and subsidies just like any urban center.
For example,
Do people in the exurbs have a pay-as-you-go system for using all those interstate highways and roads to get to and from work? No. ALL ROADWAYS RECEIVE SOME SUBSIDY (either in total or in part) whether it be federal, state, or local.
Therefore, exurbs NEED an active government.
Do people in the exurbs have access to "magically charmed", open land that is somehow immune from gross misuse resulting in pollution and local health problems? No. ASK ANYONE WHO LIVES WITHIN A MILE OF AN ENORMOUS PIG "FACTORY FARM".
Therefore, exurbs NEED an active government.
Do people in the exurbs automatically have better schools with fewer problems than those living in urban centers? No.
Full disclosure: I grew up in what could be considered the last exurb in the Bos-Wash corridor - Northeastern Connecticut. It's euphemistically dubbed "The Quiet Corner" by the state tourism bureau but is made up mostly of dying mill towns.
My high school was considered to be one of the better ones in that area. I was a top student there but when I went off to college (to an above-average state school) I was WAY BEHIND ALL of the other students who came from wealthy, inner-ring suburbs and urban centers - especially when it came to science and computers.
Additionally, I learned that the year after I graduated, the town I grew up in had THE HIGHEST UNWED TEEN PREGNANCY RATE IN THE ENTIRE STATE OF CONNECTICUT. This is a town with a population of about 22,000 and the year after I graduated it had a higher unwed teen pregnancy rate than the poorest cities in Connecticut: Bridgeport, Hartford, New Haven, Waterbury, etc. (You may be surprised to learn that in general, Connecticut has prosperous inner suburbs but troubled cities - a "doughnut of wealth")
So from my personal experience I can say that exurbs need better funding for schools and social programs.
Therefore, exurbs NEED an active government.
My point here is that even if exurbs currently tend to favor a "red" state of mind over a "blue" one, these minds are not lost to us. Part of our job as blues ought to be to educate these folks on just how much they NEED an active government that's in THEIR corner as opposed to helping out large corporations.
Our biggest problem out there is still IGNORANCE.
So let's inform our fellow exurb Americans just how much government actually does for them. We can definitely win some over. A good resource for a lot of this information is one of James Carville's books. I believe it's called, "We're Right They're Wrong" and is well researched.
Just some thoughts,
WM