http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:NYSen00Counti…

It's actually something I'm aware of somewhere else I've lived, the Pacific Northwest. Some (lefties) are enamored of the “Cascadia” concept, which would be an independent Pacific Northwest, ideally bounded by the Pacific Crest (the eastern parts of Oregon and Washington are dry authentic West and quite Red). While the wet side includes the major metro areas and gives the states their Blue status, the political complexion there is similar to Upstate in that outside the cities, it's politically more mainstream center-left to downright conservative (which is also true of many Northwestern and other major metro area suburbs, incidentally). In other words, the Cascadia lefty-dreams will have to live with plenty of loggers and fishermen, for example.

Now as to naming a whole state Blue or Red, it depends on the numbers, as well as the culture among those numbers, and New York is among the Bluest states there is. (Note also that New England is quite Blue — and there's a skew in the Mid-Atlantic as well.)

but calling NY the bluest of blue is misguided, i think. there's a LOT of red there. i mean, it's no massachusetts, fer cryin' out loud.

I still wonder if the reason the Dems in Washington are behaving so badly is that they misread the public and believe more of them will accept no limits to misconduct than is actually the case (but the limit has not been reached yet), and to what extent that attitude (developing in its own way over decades) in the states is similar.

Nobody really was surprised that Hillary Clinton would win, or worse, Eliot Spitzer, at that time. (Those Spitzer commercials harkening back to black-and-white grainy film of steam-powered trains were quite revealing about the nature of the people Spitzer was exploiting — similar to those anti-government-cutback health-care ads featuring the requisite quick shot of elderly with canes and walkers and in wheelchairs.)