For the last eighteen years of politics, ever since the presidential election of 2000, a “red state” vs. “blue state” framework has defined how Americans talk about politics. And the “red” vs. “blue” divide hangs ever present, driving countless headlines emerging from last weeks’ midterm elections. “Red states get redder, blue states get bluer,” read the headline affixed to E.J. Dionne’s latest at the Washington Post. “The red parts got redder and the blue parts bluer in a midterm election that underscored America’s deep divide,” proclaimed the analysis at the Los Angeles Times.

This had become “the narrative”.