Ben Brown, Internet Rockstar Feverish Velocity

Red Oceans vs Blue Islands

When we lived in San Francisco, we were frequently confronted by pretty rabid anti-Texas attitudes. We’d have conversations like this:

BEN: Yeah, we’re actually from Texas.

SF: EW! Oh man, that is terrible.

BEN: It’s actually really nice there and most people are very frie…

SF: Yeah, nice for cows and Republicans!

BEN: Well, actually…

SF: Oh, but you live in Austin, so it is ok… A tiny ocean of blue in a giant sea of red!

BEN: Sigh.

Well, take this, you pretentious jerks! Not only is Austin blue, but so is Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, El Paso and Corpus Christi - that’s every single large city in Texas! And look at the gulf coast! Democras are up almost 6% since 2004. Sure, we didn’t turn Texas blue, but you had better believe there are a lot of rational, progressive-minded folks here in Texas who want the same thing for our country as the glitterati in San Francisco do.

Graphic from the New York Times

For comparison, here’s California:

Next time I talk to someone in California, I’m going to say, “Oh, it must be so hard living on that little peninsula of blue in that big sea of red!” For the full context and to see just how surrounded by red that little slice of California blue is, you should really take a look at the county maps of Nevada and Oregon.

PS. No state income tax in Texas either!