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Repub. use to be blue the democrats were red ...........
nobody noticed a damn thing lol...............
Repub. use to be blue the democrats were red ...........
nobody noticed a damn thing lol...............
During the Cold War, the Communists were commonly referred to as "Reds", right up until the Berlin Wall came down. The current color designation of course conveniently prevents the Democrats from being visually connected with Communism.
The first giant election map was introduced by NBC television in 1976. States in which the majority voted for the Republican candidate (Gerald Ford) were lighted in blue. States in which the vote went to the Democratic candidate (Jimmy Carter) were lighted in red.
In 1980, both NBC and CBS used red for Carter (D) and blue for Reagan (R), but ABC, to the confusion of channel-switching viewers, used blue for Carter and red for Reagan.
In 1984, ABC and CBS used red for Republicans and blue for Democrats, but NBC retained blue for Republicans and red for Democrats.
NBC consistently used blue for Republicans and red for Democrats from 1976 to 1988, the period during which Roy Wetzel was the general manager of NBCâs election unit. Whereas the other networks seemed to have used the colors arbitrarily, Wetzel gave a reason for his consistency:
âWithout giving it a second thought, we said blue for conservatives, because thatâs what the parliamentary system in London is, red for the more liberal party. And that settled it.â ââWhen Republicans Were Blue and Democrats Were Red,â Smithsonian Magazine, Oct. 31, 2012.
In 2000, two of the networks, ABC and NBC, used red for Republicans and blue for Democrats on their election maps. NBCâs election chief, Tim Russert, is credited with popularizing the phrases âred statesâ and âblue states.â
Reinforcing the red/blue associations in 2000 were two newspaper maps that came out two days after the disputed election. The New York Times and USA Today both published color-coded maps that assigned red to Bush and blue to Gore.
By the time the next presidential election rolled around in 2004, all three networks had adopted the imagery of red for Republican and blue for Democrat.
The terms âred statesâ and âblue statesâ are now common in American political discourse.
The Changing US Political Symbolism of Blue and Red
Repub. use to be blue the democrats were red ...........
nobody noticed a damn thing lol...............
During the Cold War, the Communists were commonly referred to as "Reds", right up until the Berlin Wall came down. The current color designation of course conveniently prevents the Democrats from being visually connected with Communism.
The first giant election map was introduced by NBC television in 1976. States in which the majority voted for the Republican candidate (Gerald Ford) were lighted in blue. States in which the vote went to the Democratic candidate (Jimmy Carter) were lighted in red.
In 1980, both NBC and CBS used red for Carter (D) and blue for Reagan (R), but ABC, to the confusion of channel-switching viewers, used blue for Carter and red for Reagan.
In 1984, ABC and CBS used red for Republicans and blue for Democrats, but NBC retained blue for Republicans and red for Democrats.
NBC consistently used blue for Republicans and red for Democrats from 1976 to 1988, the period during which Roy Wetzel was the general manager of NBCâs election unit. Whereas the other networks seemed to have used the colors arbitrarily, Wetzel gave a reason for his consistency:
âWithout giving it a second thought, we said blue for conservatives, because thatâs what the parliamentary system in London is, red for the more liberal party. And that settled it.â ââWhen Republicans Were Blue and Democrats Were Red,â Smithsonian Magazine, Oct. 31, 2012.
In 2000, two of the networks, ABC and NBC, used red for Republicans and blue for Democrats on their election maps. NBCâs election chief, Tim Russert, is credited with popularizing the phrases âred statesâ and âblue states.â
Reinforcing the red/blue associations in 2000 were two newspaper maps that came out two days after the disputed election. The New York Times and USA Today both published color-coded maps that assigned red to Bush and blue to Gore.
By the time the next presidential election rolled around in 2004, all three networks had adopted the imagery of red for Republican and blue for Democrat.
The terms âred statesâ and âblue statesâ are now common in American political discourse.
The Changing US Political Symbolism of Blue and Red