Purple States

by Frank Palmer

Community

(This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Monday, Jun. 05, 2006 Monday, Jun. 05, 2006 at 8:12:04am PDT

TV reports on presidential elections color those states which go for the Republican candidate Red, and those who go for the Democratic candidate Blue. That has led to cute shorthand, which is fine.
The problem comes when people take the shorthand for some sort of reality. Are there "Red States" which are vastly differnt from "Blue States"?
Not many.
In 2004, 23 states gave Kerry from 45% to 55% of their votes. Those states had 246 (out of 435) Congressional districts, and -- therefore -- 292 (out of 535) electoral votes. Most states, as opposed to smaller jusisdictions, were fairly evenly split.