Political colour

[nairiporter.livejournal.com]

Guys, I have an inquiry. Mostly to our American friends here. I have done some research on the issue, but I am still not sure that I have a conclusive explanation of the question why the Democratic party is symbolised by the blue colour and the Republican party by the red colour. I mean, we have been seeing this distinction virtually on every political analysis where visual means are used: graphs, charts, cartoons, you name it.

As much as I could gather, it must have started fairly recently. Back in the 70s when Carter was running against Ford, the original colour scheme was still based on UK's political system, where red was the colour of the liberal party and blue of the conservative party. But then things changed. Sometime in the 2000, the New York Times and USA Today used a reversed version of these colours for their election maps (that was one very long and tedious election, which left a deep mark in American society).

I guess my question is why. What caused that shift, and how come it was so quickly and easily adopted by the rest of the public? Is that just some fad which took traction and stayed? Or was it just because Americans like doing things the exact opposite way to the rest of the world, to distinguish themselves? ;-)

A quick overview of the issue of political colours around the world reveals a vast diversity, and yet there is a noticeable tendency of red representing leftist/progressive/socialist-leaning ideologies and blue representing rightist/conservative/democratic-leaning ones. But that, of course, is The Rest of The World, a.k.a. Other Countries That Don't Matter. My inquiry here is strictly about the US. So what's your take on the matter?

Comments

[anfalicious.livejournal.com]

2000? Wow! That recent! That's the first US election I can remember being conscious of/caring about. I've always taken the current colours as given, all the historical maps I've seen (or at least, maps of old elections) use the current colours.

I've always thought it was backwards as the conservatives are the blue bloods and the left are communists.

[htpcl.livejournal.com]

Was that when Al Gore ran? I think that's the first US election i was aware of, too. I mostly heard of the aftermath, the Florida controversy, the allegations about rigged election, etc.

[anfalicious.livejournal.com]

Yeah. I remember talking about it with a friend in the lead up; we were talking about how much of a goon Bush seemed like, but that it didn't really matter because he wasn't going to win. Then the day after the election the papers here had announced it for Bush, during that window before the whole clusterfuck began. I remember thinking "uh oh". It had just started dawning on me then (I was 19 at the time) how important the US president was to our politics (and I had voted conservative here the year before).

[hardblue.livejournal.com]

I just read Craig Shirley's account of the 1980 election, "Rendezvous with Destiny: Ronald Reagan and the Campaign that Changed America", and it was mentioned how, at one point, the Democrats were given the red color and there was an objection about associating liberals with the color of red communism, and I came away with the idea that they agreed to make the Democrats blue.

[htpcl.livejournal.com]

The US does tend to do things backwards, yes. It's weird: over here (and in most of the rest of Europe, actually), red = socialism/leftism, etc. Blue - center-right. For example our Socialist Party is red. Our center-right parties are generally called "Democratic" and are blue. Go figure!

[anfalicious.livejournal.com]

Our right wing are blue (which is right), but are called The Liberals :P

It's actually not as weird as you'd think, as it was liberalism opposing socialism when the party formed, not Tory/Republican style conservatism that it's become.

[htpcl.livejournal.com]

The world is so messed up, I don't even...

[moonshaz.livejournal.com]

Oh, THAT'S not confusing. Oh no, not one little bit! ;p

[anfalicious.livejournal.com]

Imagine how confused I was when I first got into US politics :P

[unnamed525.livejournal.com]

It's all about the doublethink.

[luzribeiro.livejournal.com]

Maybe it's got something to do with conservatives posing as "folksy" or something. You know, folksy folk, the salt of the earth, thinking with their hearts rather than mind, passionate red heart, etc. I dunno. That choice of colors really doesn't make much sense from a foreigner's point of view... but then again, which American thing makes any sense? :)

[anfalicious.livejournal.com]

but then again, which American thing makes any sense? :)

Peanut butter and jam sandwiches. I remember growing up being absolutely revolted at the idea when I heard it on TV shows. Then one day, in my early 20s, after being extra, erm, "hungry", I decided it was worth the experiment and holy shitballs, was my mind blown.

[luzribeiro.livejournal.com]

Hello, corn dog anyone?



And what's this shit and where the hell did it come from?

[anfalicious.livejournal.com]

What the hell is a corn dog anyway? It's on all the shows, but it's always assumed you know what it is. Is it corn? Is it dog? Are there snouts and hooves in it? I've always assumed it some mixture of corn and arseholes, but my understanding is that's 90% of the American diet.

[luzribeiro.livejournal.com]

Apparently, it's something that passes for "food" in some of the weirder corners of the world. It can't be otherwise - after all, it's being waved into the public's face as some sort of "traditional" thing.

[unnamed525.livejournal.com]

It's a hotdog breaded and fried.

[luvdovz.livejournal.com]

Actually it was invented by German Texans. Apparently, their Wurstchen were not being met with the enthusiasm they had been hoping for, so they came up with something new.

[policraticus.livejournal.com]

Someone coming from the land of Vegemite and witchetty grubs doesn't have a.lot of culinary stones to throw. If you liked PB&J, you'll like the corn dog. It is a hot dog on a skewer hat is dipped into a cornbread batter and then deep fried. You end up (best case scenario) with a hot dog surrounded by fluffy cornbread with a crisp crust. Despite the jokes, good hot dogs are either all beef or a mixture of beef and pork. No one eats corn dogs anywhere but a ball park, carnival or street fair. I don't think I've ever had one under a roof.

[telemann.livejournal.com]

witchetty grubs

But do they taste like chicken? :P

[policraticus.livejournal.com]

Whenever I read descriptions of the flavor of any insect they inevitably include the word, "nutty." According to the internets they taste like scrambled egg! So, yes, they taste kinda like chicken! If you go to Youtube there is a clip of Bear Grylls eating a raw, live one. His verdict? Hands down the worst thing I have ever eaten! And he is British, so that is saying something.

[telemann.livejournal.com]

Hehe, for real.

[anfalicious.livejournal.com]

More like nuts.

[anfalicious.livejournal.com]

Vegemite is awesome. The mistake people make is you smear, not spread.

The corn dog does sound pretty good. Corn bread isn't a thing here, I've only had it once and it was pretty good.

[moonshaz.livejournal.com]

Corn dogs are very popular in the US, and we forget that they're not available in other parts of the world!

Do you know what a hot dog (aka wiener, frank/frankfurter) is? It's a sort of sausage, usually served in a specially designed bun either plain or with various combinations of condiments.


L to r: plain hot dog, hot dog with mustard, hot dog with mustard and a couple of other things

A corn dog is a hot dog that has a stick stuck in one end, and is then dipped into a cornmeal based batter and fried. They're especially popular at fairs and carnivals, because they're easy to eat while walking around. The outside is golden brown and very tasty (as well as very greasy and unhealthy, but whatever), and the meat inside is hot and juicy. (Can you tell I love a good corn dog, lol?)



As with the hot dog on which it's based, the corn dog can be eaten with or without additional condiments.

To eat one, you start by biting off the end farthest from the stick and work your way down. As in the Bachmann picture in this thread, eating a corn dog can look a bit, errr, suggestive if you're not careful!

[anfalicious.livejournal.com]

Yeah, hot dogs are common here, but I've never seen the corn dog thing. I do want one though :P

[moonshaz.livejournal.com]

:-D

[perfica.livejournal.com]

We have the above items in Australia; they're called 'Pluto Pups.' They're generally found at big holiday events like the Easter Show. It's almost obligatory that you dip it in tomato sauce before consuming.

[mahnmut.livejournal.com]

It's bcuz Republicans want to drink the blood of the poor. A-yup!

[sandwichwarrior.livejournal.com]

Yup

[policraticus.livejournal.com]

I think after 2000 it just became a commonly agreed trope within the media, another way for them to shorthand something they love to shorthand. It has no objective source.

NBC News really popularized it.

[telemann.livejournal.com]

It started with NBC News' large map representing the United States electoral college map (in 1976, as part of the bicentennial celebrations). Henry Mancini was also commissioned to compose a special election night news' coverage theme, evocative of colonial fife and drum music. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_je_TWIHUaw)Prior to this, most networks just used pretty dull tabulation boards with a check for winners. The map was a large device, with hundreds of lights.

It got started on TV, the original electronic visual, when NBC, the first all-color network, unveiled an illuminated map — snazzy for its time — in 1976. John Chancellor was the NBC election night anchor who explained how states were going to be blue if they voted for incumbent Republican Gerald Ford, red if they voted for Democratic challenger Jimmy Carter. That arrangement was consistent with the habit of many texts and reference books, which tended to use blue for Republicans in part because blue was the color of the Union in the Civil War. Blue is also typically associated with the more conservative parties in Europe and elsewhere.

As the other TV operations went to full color, they too added vivid maps to their election night extravaganzas. But they didn't agree on a color scheme, so viewers switching between channels might see Ronald Reagan's landslide turning the landscape blue on NBC and CBS but red on ABC.

As the other TV operations went to full color, they too added vivid maps to their election night extravaganzas. But they didn't agree on a color scheme, so viewers switching between channels might see Ronald Reagan's landslide turning the landscape blue on NBC and CBS but red on ABC. The confusion persisted until 2000, when the coloring of states for one party of the other dragged on well past election night. As people were more interested in the red-blue maps than ever, the need for consistency across media outlets became paramount.

More about it here. (http://www.npr.org/2014/11/13/363762677/the-color-of-politics-how-did-red-and-blue-states-come-to-be)

The stage prop NBC News started with in 1976 is long retired, and now on election nights, the ice rink at Rockefeller Plaza is used to graphically represent the electoral map.

The 1980 coverage with the blue/red map:

[kev-dawg.livejournal.com]

I remember watching ABC News during the '92 and '96 elections with the maps reflecting the current classifications. As I listened to an archived episode (https://web.archive.org/web/20050525055335/http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4657161) of "Fresh Air," I couldn't help thinking that the color reversal is yet another example of the "We're Americans and we do it differently, dammit" mindset.