It’s not easy being pink

Red state, blue state, pink state, that sounds like a Dr. Seuss book and not a description of our presidential race. But as everyone knows, red is now the color of Republicans* and blue is for Democrats. What you may not know is what I learned at Wikipedia; “According to The Washington Post, the terms were coined by Tim Russert during his televised coverage of the 2000 presidential election.[1] This was by no means the first election in which the news media used colored maps to graphically depict voter preferences in the various states, but it was the first time a "standard" color scheme took hold.”

Yet the politicians and pundits are not content to stay with red and blue. I have seen maps using pink, purple, pale blue and even yellow to describe states where its voters are not solid for a candidate. Battleground state is another phrase that is used way too much. With a month left before we vote, you know that the candidates and media will be entirely focused on these states that are seen as being vulnerable and open to changing.

I happen to live in a pink state, one that is leaning towards McCain but Obama may have a chance to win. And not only do I live in a pink state, but some would say that I live in the battleground state – Florida. Yes, the state of hanging chads, voter unrest and supreme court decisions.

So no surprise that Floridians are inundated with campaign ads, phone calls and visits by the candidates. There is still another month until the election and I don’t know if I can take 30 more days of this. It seems as if Obama is on TV at least every hour. I initally was impressed with the ad where Obama sits and explains some of his ideas but now it is simply boring.

If I were McCain, I would be worried about winning Florida. Yes, Palin drew a crowd of 60,000 in Central Florida but I don’t know if these visits can offset the barrage of Obama TV ads. Even as I write this I just noticed there is an new ad on TV for Obama, or at least one I haven’t seen before. But I am sure that over the next few weeks I will become as inured to this ad as I am to his other ones.

Those of you living in a blue or red state should be thankful. All you will have to contend with are the bazillion ads from your local and statewide politicians. The rest of us, however, will also have to endure the ads from McCain and Obama and of course all of the ads from the groups supporting the candidates and their causes. I have already found myself hitting the fast forward button only to realize that unfortunately I was not watching a taped show but the real thing. Maybe I should just Tvo everything during the next month so I can fast forward through all these ads. Hmmmm. Sounds like a plan to me!



* For anyone over 45 it was a bit disconcerting at first to even use the term “red state”. For to us, during the cold war we used the word “red” to describe Communists. In fact, I have first hand knowledge of the fear of “red” Communists. As a red head I had to endure childhood taunts of “I would rather be dead then red in the head.” It will be interesting to see what happens to the term “red” as Putin seems determined to bring us back into another cold war filled with Communist threats. We just might have to come up with something other than “red” as a way of describing Republicans. Personally, I would be happy with the term “winner”.