Wiktionary
n. (alternative form of blue wall of silence English)
WordNet
n. the secrecy of police officers who lie or look the other way to protect other police officers; "the blue wall cracked when some officers refused to take part in the cover-up" [syn: blue wall of silence, wall of silence]
Wikipedia
Blue wall can refer to:
- Blue wall (politics), a group of US states which lean so strongly Democratic and with a high enough population to make future presidential elections difficult for Republicans
- Blue wall of silence, a code among some police officers not to report misconduct by fellow officers, paralleling the "green wall" among prison correction officers
"Blue wall" is a term used by some political analysts and pundits referring to the theory that in Presidential elections in the United States, the Democratic Party has, in the past few cycles, established such an advantage in many states that the electoral map makes a Republican victory an uphill battle from the start. The earliest description of the forces creating the Blue Wall comes from a Houston Chronicle blogger, Chris Ladd. A Republican, Ladd wrote in November 2014 that the seemingly impressive Republican win in that year's General Election had overshadowed another trend apparent in the results - a demographic/geographic collapse. The Blue Wall was a Democratic demographic lock on the Electoral College resulting from the GOP's narrowing focus on the interests of white, rural, and Southern voters. Ladd's analysis was popularized when it was picked up by MSNBC commentator Lawrence O'Donnell and featured on his show.
Behind this "blue wall" lie states, many carrying a high number of electoral votes, which appear to be solidly behind the Democratic Party, at least on the national level, and which a Republican candidate would likely have to write off, seeking a total of 270 votes from other regions. States behind this wall lie generally in the northeast, and west coast, and include some of the Great Lakes states. In each of the past 6 election cycles, the Democratic Party has won 18 of these states (as well as the District of Columbia), totaling 242 of the necessary 270 votes need to win.
A similar "red wall," behind which lie states solidly Republican, also exists, but having fewer votes it is easier for a Democratic candidate to win without breaching it. The Republican party has won just 13 states in each of the last 6 election cycles, totaling 102 electoral votes.
The term "blue wall" and "red wall" refer to the colors associated with the Democratic and Republican Parties, respectively.
Usage examples of "blue wall".
Skeptically he eyed the poorly printed letters written in livid red on a blue wall.
He recalled their high lights the summer vacation in Virginia meadows under the blue wall of the mountains.
Well, I know it is not that and if it was optical it would seem that I could reproduce it starring at a light blue wall.
I sat and stared into the distance of a blank blue wall and wondered how it was that everything I prized was tumbling, going to gray, turning flat.