aamusedinatx | The Blue States Group (Reply)

Visualize a map of the United States, with each state colored according to the approval ratings it gave the president in the latest SurveyUSA, a poll funded by a consortium of media organizations. Those states in which more people approve than disapprove are colored pink (for mildly approve) or orange (for moderately approve). There are no red states, because there are no states in which the president's approval rating tops 60 percent.

But there are deep blue states, oh yes, because there are many states where the president's approval rating is less than 35 percent. I am proud to say that I live in one of those states. Even more disapproving than California is New York. Well, sure, you say: Those are the effete, gay-loving, Christ-hating coastal states. What of the heartland? What of the states that George Bush won in 2004?

Oops, they don't like him either. Missouri, Kansas, Kentucky: all blue. Texas is blue. Iowa is really blue, almost as blue as Illinois. Florida: blue. Colorado: blue. Isn't this fun? If this is not fun for you, move on.

Georgia: blue. Nevada: blue. We un-Bush people -- Democrats, Libertarians, conservationists, progressives, ozone-huggers and torture-haters -- have felt just a little abandoned recently. Now, it would appear, the pendulum has swung. (Memo to politicians of all persuasions: The pendulum always swings. The people you meet on the way up are the same people you meet on the way down. That's why arrogance is a bad idea; that's why hubris has such a bad rep.)

Surely it's not a clean sweep. Well, no, three states are still firmly in the president's camp: Utah, Idaho and Wyoming. The Sagebrush Rebellion lives on.