I'm not sure what you blue dots in red seas want to do with this, but judging from what you're saying on our blog today, it at least seems like you all had ought to meet each other. Personally, I'm hoping you'll keep sending us news and pictures and stuff from where you live. Tell us what you're working on and what you're seeing, and we can keep blogging it.
For now, some of your comments on the blog:
I'm a dem in Tarrant county as well! I wrote a DailyKos diary last week that got a bunch of eyeballs, to my surprise: Stop & Think Before You Tell Texas to Leave.What we need is SUPPORT. I am advocating for a "No Seat Unchallenged" drive for 2014. There's no reason we can't start challenging ensconced tea partiers and gerrymanderers. In my old town, we were stuck with an incredibly mediocre tea party dude and we *never* challenged him, despite that our town went blue for Obama.
Dems not only need a 50 state strategy for winning; they also need a 50 state strategy for governing. It does no good, in the long-run, to accept our time and money, but then throw us under the bus when it's convenient.
Try living in Kansas, surrounded on all sides by ultra conservatives, and being a progressive or liberal. We even have a town named Liberal, how ironic is that? It is extremely frustrating and irritating to be completely overrun with right wing extremists and bible thumpers. Then there is the national disgrace of Westboro Baptist pitching their tent in Kansas. The electoral college is no help either, because it assures us that liberals are completely disenfranchised. Kansas marches unimpeded into the 18th century.
Despite the same-sex marriage defeat this year, and the state government being firmly Republican now, I'm still hopeful for North Carolina. The blue dots are more like ink blots, and growing, since they congregate in urban, university-heavy areas. And the coalitions forged during the Amendment 1 fight are holding and becoming stronger. Don't write off North Carolina as just another redneck holdout. There is much more to this state than old stereotypes can describe.
I know people say that yard signs don't vote, but if there was one thing I heard repeatedly this year in Texas was disappointment over the lack of availability of Obama/Biden yard signs. As a state party office worker, requests for signs far outnumbered any other types of calls received, especially from folks living in "red" counties where their neighborhoods were inundated with Romney/Ryan signs.Just sayin'...
As a Virginian living in a blue town in a red county, this post and the NYT article make me so happy. There are a lot of us. I would love to see the media examine this whole issue with more nuance, rather than continuing to get off on portraying the nation as more deeply polarized than we really are. The left would get a lot more support in the South if we weren't constantly disregarded -- it's hard to stay energized when you're the subject of so much ridicule and so many insults, and when so many people refuse to believe you exist. And energy and activism are what the left needs, especially in these areas!
From Jay in AZ:
Here in Arizona's 2nd CD, we're delighted (okay, many of us are) that Ron Barber will be going back to Congress, and will be joined there by Krysten Sinema (and of course Raul Grijalva, which was a foregone conclusion). Maricopa County's huge population relative to the rest of the state, and overall conservatism, might keep the state red for another cycle or two, but there are plenty of liberals spread around the state, and particularly focused in Tucson. Moderate to progressive Dems can win here--remember, we only got Gov. Brewer after President Obama stole Janet Napolitano from us for his cabinet. Brewer and her cronies make us a laughingstock, but (especially as the Latino population swells), we'll be a swing state soon, and we shouldn't be excluded from the conversation.
I'm a Georgia liberal and although I'm definitely in the minority, I'm a "loud" minority. Someone made the comment that my vote "didn't count". I said that absolutely it did! I was able to cast my vote of My President. Although GA is a red state, my vote counted towards the total popular vote. We are one of those states that had to show picture IDs to vote. State government here is very regressive. What's most infuriating is when there is no democratic alternative on the ballot. Voting in this most recent election, the majority of the candidates for various local offices were unchallenged republicans. To add insult to injury, I grew up in Alabama during the Wallace years. Back then, no self-respecting Alabamian would ever dare vote Republican. I wonder what has changed over the years {sarcasm intended}