All of my adult life, I've been fortunate enough to live in a BLUE state or ...

[NurseJackie]

... a VERY BLUE state. I can't imagine what it must be like to be a liberal in a RED STATE.

How do you guys survive? Is it as bad as I imagine?

Are you eager to get the hell outta Dodge?

Do you feel isolated and judged by your neighbors and colleagues?

I wouldn't even visit a red state (I hear many of them are absolutely gorgeous) and it's all I can do to stand flying in/out of DFW on American Airlines.

Or... maybe I just need to lighten up a little bit and not make EVERYTHING in life either RED or BLUE. But still... it's amazing to see how so many stupid people tend to congregate in specific states. (Knowing that they're there, I can't help but to want to avoid them.)

[Lucinda]

1. It is moderately embarrassing to admit I have friends and family who support The Orange One

Oddly enough, only one of them posts anything about the election anymore on social media...and it's mostly just anti-Hillary and Obama stuff. There isn't much in person chatter about the election at all. I think they know it's over.

[NurseJackie]

4. Same here ... family members who seem to think that

... their Facebook posts and shares are ONLY read by people who agree with them. In real life, they're pretty good about moderating the things they say in mixed company. They have social filters that allow them to function like normal human beings... but online, they just let it fly! I'm really shocked and embarrassed by some of the things I've read.

I haven't un-friended any family members, but (thankfully) my son showed me how to "unfollow" people and not see every thing they post.

[Lucinda]

6. That is one handy feature in FB! I made use of it in the primaries too. :)

I really love my fellas SIL, she is very caring on the whole, but she has consumed way too much kool aid. In years past, when I was healthier, I was able to talk her down more often than not, But i've been a bit of a recluse lately, and she dove in the pitcher head first...

[jcgoldie]

2. I live in a blue state

But a very red area. Southern Illinois may as well be Missouri or Indiana. My HRC yard sign she's very lonely.

[TheMastersNemesis]

3. I Grew Up In Spfld, Ill. Downstate Has Always Been Very GOP. Never Learn.

Were it not for Chicago Illinois would be red most likely. They will never learn down state. They are poor and will remain that way as long as they choose their GOP overlords.

[frazzled]

5. Me too, but read this depressing op-ed from a few days ago

We are becoming more and more segregated (red and blue-wise, and hip-urban vs conservative rural), and that, more than anything, is frustrating Democrats' abilities to win the House and even Senate, or to influence state legislatures.

The Republican Party may seem in historic disarray, but it will most likely be able to continue to stymie the Democrats’ legislative agenda, perpetuating Washington’s gridlock for years to come.

Liberals have a simple explanation for this state of affairs: Republican-led gerrymandering, which has put Democrats at a disadvantage in the House and in many state legislatures. But this overlooks an even bigger problem for their party. Democrats today are sorting themselves into geographic clusters where many of their votes have been rendered all but superfluous, especially in elections for the Senate, House and state government.

This has long been a problem for the party, but it has grown worse in recent years. The clustering has economic and demographic roots, but also a basic cultural element: Democrats just don’t want to live where they’d need to live to turn more of the map blue.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/23/opinion/campaign-stops/go-midwest-young-hipster.html

Read down through all the demographic information, and you'll see we've got real problems. It also explains why Ohio is so close in this election.

[NurseJackie]

8. Great link ... thanks!

I totally get it ... but a lot has to do with my comfort level ... or perhaps my "bravery" would be a better word to use. It's easy to be brave and aggressive online. But I'm nowhere near as aggressive and hateful as the typical RED STATER.

[Jason1961]

7. It's only an issue every four years

I've spent a lot of time in both Red and Blue States and it really only comes up every four years. At the local and state level politicians switch parties so often that no one really bats an eye at your Party Affiliation.

[whatthehey]

9. I'm in my 8th state. So far it's not really a state-level thing

Sure states go Dem or Rep, most of them reliably. I've never understood the poutrage some have when someone else says their state is Republican. That's like complaining when somebody points out men commit most murders. Facts cannot be biased, and nouns referring to a group as a whole do not necessarily refer to every individual member of that group. But that last bit is important. Even the very reddest state is a quarter blue, and much of the time that blueness is concentrated in high population density high diversity areas, so it depends where you live in that state.

Funnily enough, Dallas County itself is a D+15 area so you should not fear going through it, whereas when I lived in NY, I lived in a R+15 county. Even the Nebraska county I lived in (Lancaster) was only R+1, and my neighborhood was more Dem than not. I met many savagely extreme conservatives in MN in and many lefties in KY (even though my county there was R+20). A lot of it depends where you spend your time. I'm in sports bars a lot due to my hobbies, and they are RWNJ central nationwide in my experience, but I also spend some time with atheist groups who are nigh universally liberal. What color the state overall is doesn't really seem to change either of them.

[NurseJackie]

11. I like how you think.

[marybourg]

10. I live in a very red area,

but I'm an introvert. When I do rub up against my neighbors, unless they're in a mob of like-mindeds, they're pleasant, courteous and sociable. There are enough Dems here, even in this red area, to keep life on an even keel for me.

And the climate, ease of living and moderate cost of living makes any other factor insignificant. (I used to say "trumps" everything, but I no longer use that phrase)

[cry baby]

12. I'm a lifelong liberal. I've only lived in red states.

It can be uncomfortable during election years...square peg/round hole kind of feeling.

It's just a personal feeling, but I would never deprive myself of the sights, sounds, and tastes of red states just because they're red states...even during election years. There are normal, nice people in every state that one can enjoy. Not everything should be about one's politics, especially if one's politics excludes one from experiencing everything there is to experience.

[NurseJackie]

15. I hadn't always felt this way ... but my son's descriptions of how he and his husband

are treated by (otherwise) "normal nice people" (in conservative areas) when it becomes clear to people (shopkeepers, tour-guides, restaurants, hotels) them that they're married, or that they're a couple... well... even in non-election years, the hate still exists, and it just makes me uncomfortable (and sad).

I'd never really thought much about it until they told me their experiences ... and how they must STILL go in-and-out of the closet (but mostly "in&quot when they're out and about touring and camping.

I'm still young enough to care and to get angry about it ... but I'm too old to want to fight about it or get into physical face-to-face arguments with people about it.

[cry baby]

19. I certainly understand how you've come to feel that way.

I work for a gay gentleman. He has been mistreated by city officials and other business owners here. That makes me mad, but he stays here and fights...so I guess I can do that, too.

I do hope to live in a blue area someday!

[asiliveandbreathe]

13. Spent all of my growing up years in Mass. moved to AZ

in '94 due to the downsizing of my company (major tel-com) - only had 4 years to 30..- retired in '98 - we had a great DEM Gov. move into office..Gov. Napolitano - after the Symington fiasco, and then the Jane Hull alt-fuel fiasco - Napolitano she was the WALL..when it came to the nutty republican legislature..and their nutty ideas..then, the disgusting finger pointing Brewer took over..OMG..talk about an about face...

We call ourselves the "petunia's" in the onion patch...now we have ALL nutties , except for a few sane DEMS..

When in Mass. I never gave it a thought, being an Independent, we grew up discussing the issues...not the party - common sense dictated how we voted...AZ NOT so much..leaning so far to the right after 2010..we changed to the Democratic Party just to be able to walk upright..

[manicraven]

14. I live in Washington, but most of Central and Eastern WA votes like red Idaho.

Luckily, I live in the blue part of the state, but much of my family are near Idaho and avid Trump followers and believe all the nutty conspiracy theories about the Clintons, deny climate change, and so on, except for my mom, my two grown children, and one nephew. I often wonder what influences us because my mom had three kids (myself and a younger brother and sister) and raised us very similarly, and yet my two siblings and their spouses and offspring are Republican, and I'm a tree-hugging progressive, atheist, and vegetarian, too. My siblings say that I'm "weird and always have been," cousins have cut me off for not being religious, and so I often feel like an outsider.

[alarimer]

16. It's really more a rural-urban divide than by states.

Almost all urban areas are at least purple. Most are blue or blue-ish. Think of Austin, Dallas, or Houston. The problem is gerrymandering the few Democrats in reliably safe districts and keeping the rest Republican. It's not that Democrats haven't been guilty of gerrymandering; it't just that the states they control (except California) are generally smaller.

I know most liberals don't want to move to far west Texas or rural Alabama. For one thing, what would they do there? Unless you are self-employed, these areas are not attractive to most. Plus the notable lack of services in these places (poor schools, say, or lack of other infrastructure) rule them out as well.

No, I think what we need is some bipartisan or nonpartisan redistricting commissions in every state to do it fairly. I would recommend using no other criteria than population. No regard to past voting patterns or demographics. Just draw them evenly and let the chips fall as they may.

I wouldn't throw around the word stupid, by the way. I'm pretty damn sick of this tendency in liberals to look down their noses at people different from them. It is sadly all too common here.

[NurseJackie]

18. Re: "Stupid" ... Yeah, I get what you're saying. I sympathize.

But ... they're stupid. Voting against their best interests is always stupid ... especially when it's willful and spiteful and when the KNOW the difference.

[treestar]

17. I live in a blue state but

there are still Trumpists. Granted they may be fewer but in the cities of even the red states, it is mostly blue. Rural areas of blue states, mostly red. There are still going to be liberals, though outnumbered, even in MS or AK. Still going to have right wingers in NY or CA.

[Arkansas Granny]

20. I live in deep red Arkansas, where Trump is polling at 85%.

Most of the people you meet are really good, caring people, albeit misinformed on many issues. There are a few assholes, but I think you'll find that to be the case anywhere you go. The trick is not to engage in heated discussions about politics and/or religion. You learn who you can talk with and who to avoid real quick. I've had signs taken down off my gate, but I would be very surprised if I ever had someone do any real damage to my property or threaten violence.

[CajunBlazer]

21. I have lived in red states nearly all of my life

I have lived in Louisiana and Alabama my entire life except for 4 years in California while I was in the Air Force (when it wasn't as blue as it is now). I count my entire time in Louisiana and Alabama as "Red" even though a lot of that time they were totally controlled by Democrats. The residents changed their party, not their politics.

Actually I like most of the people I deal with - they are not red neck bumpkins which seem to be the stereotypical characters which are so often depicted. They are well educated and cultured - their brand of conservatism is not extreme. If they know you hold liberal views, they are not going to press their politics on you. Except for very close friends who can cheerful agree to disagree, we don't talk politics.

The most difficult thing is dealing with people who do not know your politics and assume you agree with them politically. I can remember one incident in our break room at work. An associate that I didn't know very well was watching something on the TV and as a result said something to me which was very unflattering to President Obama. Rather than letting it pass I said, "I'll have you know that I voted for him and I still support him today." She was dumbstruck and stood there looking at me with her mouth hanging open until I turned and walked away. After that, she was always very friendly as if she were trying to make up for her lack of civility.

Most of the people of Alabama are good folks. They are kind, they contribute heavily to charities and are quick to help one another when disaster strikes. You simply have to understand that people are very much a product of their environment. Had you been born and reared in the South of conservative parents there is a good chance that you would be conservative as well. I was just fortunate that my father, the major influence in my young life, saw things differently than most of his peers.

Many of our friends, including my brother and law who I really like, are Republicans - we just don't talk about politics much. I have, however, learned that Trump's candidacy has made them very unhappy - they won't vote for Hillary, but I don't know if they can bring themselves to vote for Trump. And it would be unkind of me to ask.

[brer cat]

22. Most of the people I know

are very caring, friendly and fun. Some of these "stupid" people would give me the shirt off their back if I was in need, watch over the children playing in the neighborhood as though they were their own, take care of elderly or sick friends and relatives without complaint or expectation of reward. I don't feel the need to ask how they vote before I share a joke or enjoy the yard eggs and garden-fresh veggies they generously supply.

I have no desire to live anywhere else. The confederate-flag-waving, gun-toting "Deliverance"-type rednecks are few and far between and no worse than the fringe in any society, red state or blue state. I hope GA turns blue and makes a better society of all of us, but I don't live in isolation because my neighbors are not just like me.

[LeftInTX]

23. I don't feel isolated at all

I live in a liberal city. I attend classes with a great bunch of people of who many happen to be liberal. (These are senior citizens by the way)

My biggest issue is what the state legislature is pulling. Not too many people are crazy about it either. Many crazy programs like open carry are pushed by lobbyists and not voters.