Quote:
Originally Posted by Matt Q
Nigel,
That said, I will agree with you;
the landscape here seems largely blue.
If one leans rightward far enough
then one can read all kinds of stuff
that's centrist, rightist, anti-trot
and deem it lefty when it's not,
That's why, I think, that John sees red
where you and I see blue instead.
Matt
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When I was in 6 th grade (circa 1962) The encyclopedia had maps of the US states where red denoted Democrat - voting states and blue denoted Republican states. This made sense, since red was associated with Communism, and blue was the color of the uniforms on the Union Army in the Civil War. Also, the Republican party had its inception at about that time, and supported the Union side. ( the Dems were the Secessionists; they wore gray uniforms, if they were fortunate enough to have actual uniforms at all)
Sometime later ... I'd guess the early 1980's ... the colors reversed. I suspect red became the Republican color on account of rural rednecks tending to favor the Republican party. How the blue got connected to the Dems I never figured out. "Blue Dog Democrats" were Southern Dems with conservative voting records, but that is hardly a label the rest of the Democrat party would like.
So, my question here is, was the Red for conservative / Blue for liberal something in the UK that got transferred to the US? Inquiring minds want to know
(sorry for the lack of versification).