In case you were wondering (and I sure was), how this color contrast came into being (especially since red used to indicate "Communist"), here's Geoff Nunberg's take on it [/not starting or encouraging or wanting a political thread].


Color Wars

"Fresh Air" commentary, May 18, 2005, NPR


"Color names are the most elemental labels you can give to opposing sides -- they suggest deep and irreconcilable divisions that go deeper than differences over politics. You think of the whites and reds of the War of the Roses or of the Russian Revolution, or of the blues and whites of the Vendée rebellion against the French republican government in 1793 (well, okay, maybe not everybody thinks of that one). Or of the blues and greens of Constantinople, who began as the supporters of different chariot racing teams at the circus and grew into warring factions that pervaded the life of the Byzantine Empire.

By those standards, America's decision to divide itself into blue and red cultures is a pretty genteel affair, more on the order of a summer camp color war. But it's odd the way this has come on us so suddenly. The terms themselves go back a few election cycles. According to Grant Barrett's recent political dictionary Hatchet Jobs and Hardball, they first appeared during the 1992 presidential election,  when the networks decided to coordinate their electoral graphics using blue for the Democrats and red for the Republicans...."

for the rest, go to:
http://www-csli.stanford.edu/~nunberg/redblue.html