Tired of speaking to like-minded people, San Francisco blogger and radio journalist Rose Aguilar quit her job, bought a Toyota van, picked up her boyfriend, and took off on a six-month road trip through southern and mountain states. There she interviewed a wide array of people who rarely, if ever, appear in the national media. They include a former Republican evangelical pastor who now preaches inclusion in Tulsa; anti-war, pro-choice, and green Republicans; and a Montana hunter planning to leave his job as a conservationist to fight for gay rights.

This political travelogue challenges stereotypes and goes far beyond the sound bites and statistics to reveal what red-state voters really care about—and what they expect from their political leaders.

As Aguilar writes in the first chapter, “We breathe the same air, we live under the same political system, we’ve probably seen the same television and news shows, and most of us grew up going to public schools; yet because we might vote differently once every four years, we find ourselves stereotyped in the national media and separated by red and blue borders.”

Red Highways is a riveting examination of what matters most in the heartland, what makes it tick, and what issues get its citizens to vote.

Publication date: October 21, 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

RED HIGHWAYS
A Liberal’s Journey Into the Heartland
by radio host and blogger
Rose Aguilar

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This is a book goes beyond the sound bite to explore the ways our great national pastime of political myth-making—the whole red state/blue state divide—oversimplifies real Americans, flattening three-dimensional people into idealized one-dimensional votes. Rose Aguilar manages to unravel this ball of yarn magically on a road trip with her boyfriend, Ryan. The result is a very readable romp through the truth about the heartland—one that proves Barack Obama was right when he said there is no red states or blue states, just the United States of America.

As Aguilar writes in the first chapter, “We breathe the same air, we live under the same political system, we’ve probably seen the same television and news shows, and most of us grew up going to public schools; yet because we might vote differently once every four years, we find ourselves stereotyped in the national media and separated by red and blue borders.”

Here is a very readable book, a travelogue, and riveting blue state review of red state folk and why they vote the way they do, what matters most in the heartland, what makes it tick, and most importantly, the vital issues that get its citizens to the voting booth.

Aguilar breaks with all stereotypes traveling through states that usually vote Republican—Texas, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Utah and Montana—to find out why red state voters choose candidates who often do not have their backs and what issues they really care about, what they expect from their political leaders. This is a travelogue with all the attendant local color you might find on the road with Alton Brown but pure politics, like NASCAR but in an un-air-conditioned Toyota van that can only manage 60 miles per hour on a good day. Focusing on the Mountain West, which could well determine the outcome of the 2008 presidential election, Rose Aguilar challenges the stereotypes to reveal new strategies for progressives.

About the author:

Rose Aguilar is radio personality, producer, journalist and political blogger from San Francisco. She is a contributor to the book, Red State Rebels: Tales of Grassroots Resistance in the Heartland. She currently hosts “Your Call,” a daily public affairs radio show on NPR-affiliate KALW. “Your Call” features in-depth conversations about everything from the Iraq war and poverty to the environment and the arts. Aguilar also writes for Alternet and offers political analysis for the BBC.

About the book:

Price $15.95, paperback original, ISBN: 978-0-9794822-7-4, Distributed by Ingram Book Services: (800) 937-8000