Red/Blue Divide

In the last two decades, it has been common to assume the nation is “divided into two unified camps” with look-alike liberals and conservatives amassing into warring factions across the nation.  By contrast, Seyle and Newman encourage us to move away from the simplistic “red vs. blue” metaphor for U.S. political differences and towards a “Purple America” frame that acknowledges qualitative gradations of political ideology and many shades and hues of purple. Compared to the “black and white” (red/blue) divide, this view welcomes a range of views on a continuous spectrum (from completely red to completely blue). There are lots of positive examples of friendships spanning this divide.