Red State? Blue State? Purple State
Nice for Graphics, Misleading for Real-World Politics
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Editor´s Note
By William Minter
William Minter is the editor of the Substack blog AfricaFocus Notes. His latest book, None of Us Is Free Until All of Us Are Free: New Perspectives on Global Solidarity, edited in collaboration with Imani Countess (forthcoming from Africa World Press).
The graphic appeal of the red/blue/purple state color code is irresistible. And it does have real-world consequences, given the winner-take-all character of the electoral college and most other elections in the country,
But it is misleading in two ways.
It does not take account of the fine-grained differences within each state. Even more important, it also does not allow for exceptional circumstances in which a national crisis is addressed by eloquent and clear-sighted nationally visible politicians.
The "Fighting Oligarchy" tour of Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez illustrates both points.
Regions within States
Sen. Sanders and Rep. Ocasio-Cortez have just finished their current tour in Tucson, Arizona, my home town as a high school and university student in the 1950s and 1960s.
I’ve moved around a lot in my life, so I have lived in the "red states" of Mississippi, Georgia, and North Carolina, as well as Arizona. I also spent years as a graduate student in the "blue states" of Wisconsin and New York. And, since 1982, I have lived in Washington, DC, the "bluest of the blue," albeit not a state but an internal colony with no voting members of Congress.
The enthusiastic response to the Sanders/AOC message in supposedly red states makes clear that the assumption of political uniformity within states is a myth. The saying "All politics is local" is not literally true, since each level of government has its own dynamic, but it is a reminder that considering only states is a fundamental error.
Taking only the states mentioned above, the Mississippi Delta, where I spent my childhood, became reliable for Democratic candidates once African Americans gained the right to vote in the 1960s, while the rest of the state trends far to the right.
Arizona has been linked to the politics of Barry Goldwater but also to the Udall family, prominent progressive Democrats. Phoenix, the capital, is deeply conservative, but when my family lived in Tucson we were surrounded by a very different local political scene, home to progressive candidates like the recently deceased Raúl Grijalva (below). Northern Arizona, with Native American reservations as well as rural ranchers, was yet another political world.
Grijalva, seen at a 2023 hearing, spent years as the top Democrat on the House Natural Resources Committee. | Francis Chung/POLITICO
Everyone in North Carolina is aware of the demographic and political contrasts between the western mountains, the Piedmont plateau, and the coastal zone. Southwest Georgia, where I worked with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in 1965, is quite different from Atlanta even today. Georgia's two Democratic senators are now among the most eloquent voices anywhere against the MAGA assault, as anyone can see by watching their compelling speeches on March 22. Sen. Raphael Warnock, a Black pastor, introduces Sen. Jon Ossoff, a Jewish activist, who is running for reelection in 2026. All this in a state long considered reliably Republican.
Fighting Oligarchy
The Tour, first announced in February, included stops in Kenosha, Wisconsin and Warren, Michigan as well as to Nevada, Iowa, Colorado, Nebraska, and Arizona. Its impact was amplified around the country by the availability of live-streamed video coverage. Sanders was joined by Rep. Ocasio-Cortez on the last few stops, and the enthusiastic crowd response received wide media coverage.
Full speeches are available online. But these short news clips from local press illustrate the response at local levels as well.
Kenosha, Wisconsin
Warren, Michigan
Las Vegas, Nevada
Iowa City
Greeley, Colorado
Denver, Colorado
Omaha, Nebraska
Tempe, Arizona
Can the Momentum Continue?
There have been impressive political mobilizations before, most recently the Obama campaign in 2008. But, as many have observed, President Obama allowed his grass-roots mobilization capacity to wither. And, in far too many cases, like John F. Kennedy in 1961, he left his inspiring goals by the wayside in an attempt to avoid conflict with establishment vested interests on both domestic and international issues.
Will Sanders and Alexandria-Cortez avoid the same fate? Some recent reports indicate that such an effort is beginning, with the hiring of organizers. That is an essential step for success. But the future of this movement will depend above all on how well the wide range of other progressive forces manage to coordinate their efforts both in the streets and at the polls.
Definitely a sign of hope!