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August 26, 2008 · 3:53 PM

Hay! We’re adroitly navigating the red see

By John Katsilometes

The LDS Temple sits at the heart of St. George -- in spirit and in fact.

Photo: John Katsilometes

Thus far, Todd has dominated the blogging. I have been driving, and while I am a master of texting while driving, I cannot both blog and drive simultaneously. Besides, that’s a crime here in Red State America, I think punishable by public caning.

ObamaQuest @ St. George, UT

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A couple of comments Todd has made have raised my eyebrows. As we were pulling into St. George, the Don McLean song, “American Pie” was played on the region’s HOTTEST classic-rock station, K-whatever-FM (“Serving St. George and the surrounding area since 1814!”), and Todd asked, “What’s this song about?”

“Buddy Holly,” I said. That’s it, right? The Buddy Holly death song. I’m sure of it. Then he asked some more questions about levies, rye and widowed brides. The guy’s a veritable question-asking machine. I also told him about a game my family plays while driving through long stretches of Idaho. Every time someone spots a hay bale, or a mound of hay, or a truck carrying hay in any of its form, someone yells, “Hay!” Turns out, this is a gag in Monty Python’s Spamalot, based on this “hay!” thing. So I told Todd about it, and he finally took the wheel between stops in Beaver City and Monroe. Just a couple of minutes ago, as I was busy typing away, my ears closed to the grainy sounds of the Grateful Dead, Todd shouted. “Hay! Hay!” I looked up, startled, because Todd shouts only biannually, and behind us was an open barn full of hay. The guy is good!

It is say-hay here in the Red States. How red are we talking here? Admittedly. Admittedly red. Not apologetically, or necessarily proudly, but what we have found so far on this journey while talking to a people who can pulse-ify their communities is that this is a really conservative region, always has been, always will be. To me, the most telling comments have been from St. George journalist Ed Kociela, who told us that even though the state is backing John McCain by something like 65-35 percent over Barack Obama, Obama is leading in fundraising in the state by almost 20 percent. Nineteen percent, actually, which is almost 20 percent.

The Big D in stands for Dixie College, the region's institution of higher learning.

Photo: John Katsilometes

The Big D in stands for Dixie College, the region's institution of higher learning.

Ed also sports a small earring in his left lobe. Looks like a diamond. I asked if that was ever a point of contention among the local conservative, LDS Church community. “Nah,” said the longtime St. George writer and editor. “I’m too old to worry about it.” And judging by the community, so are those who would have a problem with the reporter’s bling.

Up ahead is Monroe. Not a moment too soon. The Mazda 6, toeing 99,500 miles, is on empty.

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