I'm not sure that there's much need for negotiation. Red states are stronger because they suffer from far less rot than blue states. Blue states appear strong because they have large populations and wealth, but that wealth is mostly in investment funny money and not assets or infrastructure, and the populations are made up of mentally ill progressives and balkanized immigrants.

People will volunteer to risk their lives for the idea of Tennessee or Texas. Chicagolanders aren't going to volunteer to fight for the idea of Illinois.