The pundits, the pundits like to slice and dice our country into red states and blue states: red states for Republicans, blue states for Democrats. But I’ve got news for them, too. We worship an awesome God in the blue states, and we don’t like federal agents poking around our libraries in the red states.

We coach little league in the blue states and, yes, we’ve got some gay friends in the red states…

These were the words of Illinois Senate Candidate Barack Obama as he addressed the Democratic National Convention. In the wake of the speech, he has been widely celebrated as one of the party’s rising stars. One of the reasons he’s been embraced I think is encapsulated by the above quote. In it he resists, at least rhetorically, the facile divisions that separate the country and which pundits love to embrace. With a simple red state/blue state mix-and-match, Obama turns these shorthand stereotypes on their head, reminding us that while a state may be red, it could still be more that 40 percent blue and vice versa. And beyond the political geography, he reminds us that neither god, nor gay, nor patriotism are the sole domain of either party.  

And now the “Red State/Blue State Mix Up Game” can be enjoyed by the whole family! Here’s how you play. Simply pick a stereotype associated with each colored state and then mix ‘em up. I’ll show you how:

“They listen to NPR in the red states and I know some people who TiVo The 700 Club in the blue states; they eat at Cracker Barrel in the blue states and some folks play frisbee golf in the red states; we donate to Save the Children in the blue states and they pay their dues to the Sierra Club in the red states.”

Ok, now you try.    

Benjamin Helphand