The Verse - Volume 28
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Purple Particulars

On this election day, when quite a bit is made of the differences between us, we can look to purple to bring us together. 

Since the 2000 election, we often hear our differences as a nation described as “Red” or “Blue.”  If you vote Republican, you and your state are red.  If you vote Democrat, you and your state are blue.  We can add the Blue and Red categories to a long list of ways to view divisions in America…Northerner or Southerner, Yankee or Confederate, Rich or Poor, Urban or Rural, Liberal or Conservative and many, many more.

If you’re sentimental, you could choose to think about it this way: it takes both red and blue to make the stars and stripes the red, white and blue that we know and love.

If you’re a visual person, picture a satellite image of our nation.  All Americans who voted in the 2000 and 2004 elections are in the image, and they are either blue or red, depending on how they voted.  What we see is not a red nation or a blue nation, but a purple one.  If you were mixing paint and you had 51% red and 48% blue, it would look purple.  Just like it would if it was 51% blue and 49% red.

You know, I’m not a political expert, but I do believe that there is merit in seeing purple and not just red and blue.  We aren’t George W. Bush’s people or Bill Clinton’s people.  We are Americans.  We are at our best when we remember what we have in common and not what divides us.  Among the seemingly endless negative political ads this year, there are a few words from one that I think are worth repeating.  “We’re the country that walked on the moon; that invented the light bulb, the airplane and the Internet.  We changed the world...and we can do anything...together.”  So, please vote and remember that no matter if you vote red or blue, we’re all part of purple America!

UPDATE:

This article was written Monday, November 6, 2006.  Below is a graphic representation of the election results of Tuesday November 7, 2006. Still purple!