How red went from the color of revolution to the color of Republicans in US politics

# Red States and Blue States: A Recent Political Convention

The red-state/blue-state vocabulary now defining U.S. politics emerged largely by accident during the 2000 presidential election between George W. Bush and Al Gore. Television networks, which had inconsistently assigned colors to parties for decades, converged on red for Republicans and blue for Democrats during Florida's five-week vote recount, cementing the association through repetition rather than any deliberate decision.

The color scheme gained staying power simply because Americans watched the same map night after night as the Supreme Court resolved the election, making the pairing seem inevitable. By 2002, journalists described the country as divided into "two Americas: red and blue," imbuing colors with cultural and regional connotations that were never officially assigned. The convention has now endured for over two decades despite its arbitrary origins.