Blue Goops and Red

My last post triggered a thought (rare around here). A few weeks ago, my co-bloggers and I had a bit of an exchange about Red States and why they are red. As co-blogger Simoneyzed in Ontario said, blue has traditionally been the color of conservatism and red the color of the far left -- as in "better dead than red." Why then, are the states voting for conservatism (at least the modern day form of it) called "red states" and those voting for left-wing progressives called "blue states?"

I think the Thuglicans coined the term, so I attibute it to Gelette Burgess, who wrote the Goop books, where Blue Goops were mostly male and mostly bad and Red Goops were mostly female and mostly good. Among his other achievements, Burgess wrote:

I've never seen a purple cow
I never hope to see one
But I can tell you anyhow
I'd rather see than be one

The Goop Books, while I love them, are certainly part of the legacy of those born with silver spoons in their mouths. An introduction to the Goops: