Who Decided Who is Red and Blue?

This whole red state, blue state thing has me puzzled. As in the political parties, conservative vs. socialist (liberal doesn't seem to apply anymore, as that would suggest moderation). Just who the hell chose red for conservative Republicans?

It seems to me that the commies have succeeded again in defining their opponents to their opponents' detriment. In my youth "red" as a political color was associated with the far-left communists and marxists, which is today the Obama/Emmanuel wing of the Democratic Party. To be considered "red" was to be considered an extremist.

Red is also traditionally associated, from the days of the Revolutionary War, with the British while blue is associated with the Continental Army. During the Civil War, blue was the color of the Union Army uniforms, while the Confederacy (seen as racist by socialist/marxists) had gray uniforms.

Sometime in the last twenty years the color red has become strongly associated with conservatives, and Republicans in particular. Seems to me that the media, in conjunction with their leftist comrades, have taken advantage of the negative association to the color red as a political adjective and applied it to conservatives.

Meanwhile, Democrats have been cast in the color blue, symbolic of the fight for freedom from British colonial oppressors and the fight to preserve the Union against the "racist" Confederacy.

I have been a conservative since I was a teenager, and a sometime Republican. I cannot help but think that the left and their cohorts in the elitist media have somehow used the symbolism of colors to influence a substantial percentage of Americans into thinking that the "red" conservatives are the enemy of America.

Judging by the vast amount of brainless wonders I have encountered who are also fervent Obama supporters, I suspect that something as simple as color association can be used to influence these mindless drones. A more logical explanation for the Obamoronism escapes me.