7 thoughts on “The Red vs. Blue ‘divide’ is a lie. America isn’t Red or Blue, it’s Purple.”

  2. No offense boss, but to accuse Democrats of being the ones who were spewing invective and not to fully admit how much the Republicans did the same, and in my mind, far worst, is disengenous at best.

    Common, you got to know that things like the Swift Boat Ads were filled with lies. That the anti-gay marriage bills put on state ballots was ment to divide the electorate. That the attacks on Kerry’s character and person had nothing to do with policies. They had one goal: winning at any cost.

    He’s right on one thing: name calling is not going to change a thing. I don’t practice that or encourage it.

    What I do encourage is for us to find candidates – like Bill Clinton – that speak to the heartland in a language they relate to – while furthering the policies that are needed for the country to survive and prosper.

    Bush speaks a language the heartland understands, but his policies have to do with ideologies he holds dear, and little to do with reality. And I intend to continue to point that out.

    It’s a patriotic duty. And the more of us who join in, the better. We have a lot of work to do.

  3. That’s a great graphic, purple indeed. That’s why I’d love to see perportional repersentation for our house of commons, it would smooth out the regional divides that tear us apart.

    First past the post has some serious drawbacks.

    – Peace

  4. Karl,

    I don’t agree with everything that “JimK” says in his open letter (link above), but what I found interesting is that while he is a strong Republican, his views on some major issues are the same as those of progressive liberals.

    I agree with you that Democrats need to reach out to the heartland. I believe that they need to do it by standing up for what they believe in and not try to appear/become more like the nonprogressive-republicans. If the Democrats are liberal, they should be proud to say it, like Howard Dean, not try to relate to the voters by claiming to love Gun ownership, supporting the Iraq war, and being strongly religious Christians like John Kerry did. Nothing wrong with people like guns and being strongly religions and nothing against Kerry, but someone like Dean appeals more to me who doesn’t pretend to be like others to appeal to them. In that aspect, Bush appeals more to me than Kerry, even though after the Iraq War and WMD mess, I decided to vote for anyone-but-Bush.

    I do think Dean would have energized more people on a national level election against Bush than Kerry did.

    I was never a Kerry supporter, even though I planned to vote for him. I’ve been a Dean Supporter, a W. Bush Supporter and a Clinton fan and supporter.

    To me party affiliations are far less important than the right policies and the a person I can trust.

    I did like some things about Kerry. I did prefer him slightly over Bush, but Bush is our president now and he won clearly, fair and square this time.

    So while we work to improve our country and society, we need to support Republicans and Democrats for the things we believe in. The issues need to take more importance than party affiliations in the next 4 years. In the meantime, the Democratic party needs to be rebuilt on a national level and the Republican party needs new members with progressive and liberal views.

  5. I’m with you all the way (except on Dean – but that’s ok) 🙂

    I like Dean a lot (I’m going to be joining Dean’s Democracy for America meetup group), but as a candidate, I feared he just couldn’t reach middle America the way it needed to be. Looks like Kerry had the very same problem.

    The thing is, Kerry didn’t pretend to be what he’s not. He is a gun owner. He is a church going Christian. And he is strong on defense. All those things he has been his entire life. Those things are not anti-liberal.

    Being liberal means you believe government has role to invest in society and being conservative means you belive in social darwinsim (the market being the ultimate decider of survival).

    Liberal has been made a swear word by the right and its meaning has gotten changed in the process.

    Conservatism has changed its meaning recently too.

    Bush isn’t a entirely a conservtive and Kerry isn’t entirely a liberal. Neither are the parties entirely dominated by one frame of thought or the other.

    We agree far more than we disagree 🙂

  6. Food for thought. Why did Kerry quit so quickly?

    (This is just one district)
    ————————
    Computer error at voting machine gives Bush 3,893 extra votes

    Associated Press
    Posted on Fri, Nov. 05, 2004

    COLUMBUS, Ohio – A computer error with a voting machine cartridge gave President Bush 3,893 extra votes in a Gahanna precinct.

    Franklin County’s unofficial results gave Bush 4,258 votes to Democratic challenger John Kerry’s 260 votes in Precinct 1B. Records show only 638 voters cast ballots in that precinct.

    Matthew Damschroder, director of the Franklin County Board of Elections, said Bush received 365 votes there. The other 13 voters who cast ballots either voted for other candidates or did not vote for president.

    Damschroder said he received some calls Thursday from people who saw the error when reading the list of poll results on the election board’s Web site.

    He said the error would have been discovered when the official canvass for the election is performed later this month.

    Damschroder said after Precinct 1B closed, a cartridge from one of three voting machines at the polling place generated a faulty number at a computerized reading station.

    The reader also recorded zero votes in a county commissioner race.

    Damschroder said the cartridge was retested Thursday and there were no problems. He couldn’t explain why the computer reader malfunctioned.

    Workers checked the cartridge against memory banks in the voting machine Thursday and each showed that 115 people voted for Bush on that machine. With the other machines, the total for Bush in the precinct added up to 365 votes.

    Information from: The Columbus Dispatch

    Source: http://www.ohio.com/mld/beaconjournal/news/state/10103910.htm?1c

  7. Btw, I made an attempt to read the open letter to the left. And frankly, I can’t stomach anymore of their holier than thou bush-speak.

    He says that his generation is taking root. And that us liberals or whatever the term is today will fall away and die. I got news for you, we aren’t going anywhere.

    This is a 12 round fight, and it’s not even into round 5 yet.

    I’m 31 years old. I’m not planning on dying anytime soon. And besides, I like a good fight.

    All I have to say to them, is JUST BRING IT. I got plenty of time. I will not be talked to like I am an animal for disagreeing with them, nor will I be bullied.

    I believe something in my heart and in my mind. I believe that we hold more power than they give us credit for. They may control the house, senate, and the white house. They can control the outhouses for all i’m concerned. But they will NEVER control our minds.

    Remember that. Because you can take that to the bank…..

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