You have got to love these knuckleheads
The Washington GOP comes within the margin of error of sweeping Olympia based statewide offices of note, running a serious candidate for the governors mansion in I don't know how long, and these knuckleheads blame the loss on Republicans squandering political capitol from 1994.
I swear to you, these folks calling themselves "The Reagan Wing" are saying the Washington GOP is too far to the left.
One of their arguments recently was that the state GOP needs to do a better job appealing to libertarians:
But there’s one critically influential voting bloc which Republicans, if they stay true to form, will somehow neglect to consider. And it cost them dearly in 2004... again.Let me first point out that there is no Woman Party which runs candidates in elections. There is no Black Party. There is no Latino Party. There is no Fundamentalist Party. There is no Labor Party. None of those constituencies have their own political operation running their own candidates who have the ability to siphon off votes from one or both of the two major parties.
But voters who want the government to get the hell out of their wallets, their bedrooms, their businesses and their hair; voters who just want to be left alone; voters who still embrace the Founders’ notion of limited-government and good, old-fashioned freedom to pursue life, liberty and happiness...they DO have their own party.
I’m talking now, of course, about the Libertarian Party.
But of course, the libertarian candidate running in Washington was Ruth Bennett, an out lesbian running on a legalizing gay marriage platform. I could see a lot of conservative Republicans supporting her rather than Rossi. Makes tons of sense.
TRW has some plans to try to take back the party in Washington.
The more these folks drive the GOP to the right, the less likely they will be able to repeat or improve in Rossi for Governor 2004. This is like Brian Schweitzer losing a close race for governor of Montana, and then his party arguing that he needed to talk more about core Democratic issues. You know, gay rights, gun control and needles for addicts programs.
Emmett O'Connell | December 31, 2004 | Comment on This Post (2 so far) |
Why didn't anyone want Reid?
Las Vegas City Life has an interesting piece on what they call an internet campaign against Harry Reid before he quickly secured the minority leaders position. From my point of view, the entire process seemed to be a non-fight to begin with. I was just glad to see a Westerner pick up the sword so quickly, even though his coronation was a bit fixed.
But, why did internet commentators, and otherwise, not want Reid in charge. Why did they champion more East Coast/industrial Midwest progressives that would speak for the anti-Iraq, pro-choice base of the party? The campaign against Reid is an example of what was wrong with the campaign of lowered expectations, run from our base of the Kerry campaign.
That Reid had just won a dominate victory in a state carried by Bush and won't have to run again until 2010 was lost on most. The most damning thing they could say was that he was inarticulate, wasn't liberal enough, and came from a red state. Nevada would only be a red state in comparison to the liberal northeast.
Reid, and other Western Democrats, are living proof that the Interior West can be so called blue states if the Democratic Party reaches out beyond the population losing East Coast/ind. Midwest. Electing Reid is a small step in that direction.
Emmett O'Connell | December 30, 2004 | Comment on This Post (5 so far) |
One vote matters in Montana
The Montana Supremes today voided a single ballot in a state rep. race - and swung the control of the Legislature to the Democrats.
Background: In the 2004 election, HD12 was left with a tie vote between Democrat Jeanne Windham and Rick Jore - a Constitution Party candidate expected to caucus with the GOP. After outgoing GOP Governor Judy Martz appointed Jore, a voter in the district sued over seven overvote ballots (that had been counted for Jore). The Supreme Court agreed, ruling "one or more" votes would be deducted from Jore.
That swung the Legislature from 51-49 for the Republicans, to 50-50. And in Montana, control of a tied house goes to the Governor's party -- and Democrat Brian Schweitzer is on his way in to the Governor's mansion.
And they say a single vote doesn't make a difference.
Get the full news story from the Great Falls Tribune.
Also, Left in the West has an update on the jockeying between two Democrats for the speakership -- apparently one is seeking the backing of the GOP cacus.
Kari Chisholm | December 29, 2004 | Comment on This Post (0 so far) |
DP on Wellington Webb
Several people have made some good points on the negatives of Wellington Webb being DNC chair. I've had doubts whether a former mayor of Denver can really be a candidate "of the West." It would seem like former mayors of Seattle and Portland would have the same problems making the same argument, as opposed to a statewide elected from the interior West.
Anyway, the Denver Post has some smart stuff to say about Mr. Webb. Thanks to MakesMeRalph for the the link.
Or how about someone like Webb, who hails from a red state with strong shades of purple? Colorado is the type of state that Democrats must win (and can win) if they want to take the White House."Webb gets that a lot of us are looking for some resources from the party to help switch some of those colors around," said Carolyn Boyce, Idaho's Democratic chairwoman. "For all of us \[in\] Western states, we like that he's from a Western state."
In his interviews for the job, Webb hasn't been shy about noting that Colorado has bucked national trends this year, especially by sending Democratic brothers John and Ken Salazar to Washington.
I'm not exactly rooting for Webb, I'm just curious to see how a candidate raising the Western Democrat banner does in the process. Its an important banner to raise.
As a side note, MyDD has Webb down arrowing.
Emmett O'Connell | December 28, 2004 | Comment on This Post (1 so far) |
Could Mike Sullivan Be Our Guy?
Meet Mike Sullivan. In 1986, the Democrat was elected governor of Wyoming - and in 1990, he was re-elected. After leaving office after two terms, President Clinton appointed him the ambassador to Ireland.
Today, he practices law in Casper, Wyoming - and is one of the co-founders of Democrats for the West, a group of current and former electeds working toward the same ends as those of us here at WesternDemocrat.com.
Sullivan knows what it takes to win. That's why he was the very first Governor in the nation to endorse Bill Clinton for president. (link: scroll down)
And to the topic at hand, here's Mike...
"Everyone knows there's a commonality of issues in the West. That's why Democrats for the West is so important. Wyoming and the West will benefit by having stronger representation of our issues in the Democratic Party. Wyoming and the West will benefit by having a stronger two-party system."
Hat tip to the Sheridan County (WY) Democrats for the quote.
Learn more about Mike Sullivan at the Wyoming state archives and from his law firm.
So here's the question: Could Mike Sullivan be a plausible presidential candidate? Is there a reason we shouldn't be looking at a former Governor, even one out of office for a decade?
Kari Chisholm | December 27, 2004 | Comment on This Post (2 so far) |
The week in Webb digest
From the Kansas Dem Party on Webb:
Wellington Webb: Mayor of Denver. Webb is an established African American leader. He was articulate and focused on the need for the DNC to reach out to people who are closer to the local level such as mayors. He is currently a DNC Vice Chair but complained that the DNC Chairman made decisions without even the slightest consultation of the executive committee. He talked about the importance of helping local activists, especially in minority communities, learn political skills that will help them have more of a voice in the years to come.
--Former Denver Mayor Wellington Webb. He promoted his experience in winning elections in the West. He ticked off specific complaints from several states, such as money problems in South Dakota and Republican's Spanish-language advertising in Nevada.
Webb does really bad in a DailyKos vote for DNC chair:
Dean 3,466 (54.3%)
Rosenberg 1,066 (30.8%)
Ickes 154 (4.4%)
Webb 153 (4.4%)
Frost 134 (3.9%)
Fowler 41 (1.2%)
Hindery 37 (1.1%)
From the Carpetbagger Report:
Wellington Webb -- The former mayor of Denver is going all-out in this race, wooing state chairs aggressively and even sending out videos to DNC members about his qualifications. Indeed, he's the only major candidate to formally announce his candidacy for the job. Webb is African American from an increasingly-important swing state, but he frequently clashed with unions in Denver, which may undermine his efforts.
Nothing really new, except for the poll. What you could read from that is Dean is insane popular with people with web access, Webb, not so much.
Emmett O'Connell | December 27, 2004 | Comment on This Post (1 so far) |
Hunters are environmentalists
Thanks to leftinthewest.com for the tip.
I didn't pick this up the first time I read "Top Billings," but it was something that George Ochenski didn't:
The beauty of the access issue was three-fold. First, it helped Schweitzer make inroads with the constituency of outdoorsmen that is normally Democrat-averse.Second, it let us speak to both left-leaning environmentalists, who wanted public lands and wildlife herds maintained, and right-leaning outdoorsmen, who wanted a place to recreate and a steady population of game to hunt. This was especially important because we did not want to alienate the enviros who would be out in force on election day to vote against an initiative to permit cyanide leach mining. Stern, who had a deft sense of strategy, once pointed out, “Hunters can be some of the biggest environmentalists around, even though they don't think of themselves that way and would never in a million years label themselves that.”
Third, it was an issue that would ultimately help us tie Brown in Republican-leaning Gallatin County, one of the fastest growing counties in America. Like other Rocky Mountain exurbs, Gallatin had seen an influx of new residents looking to live in an area with outdoor recreation. Targeting these new residents and making them Democratic voters early were key not only to the election at hand, but also for building a majority for the long haul.
Ochenski, in his column, goes on for several paragraphs, pointing out leaders of the Montana environmental movement that are also hunters and fishers. Such as:
...John Gatchell, the conservation director for the Montana Wilderness Association, goes out every year to bag his deer or elk. Chef Boy Ari, the Indy’s food columnist, munches on antelope, whitetail and mule deer that he brought down and processed with his own hands. Indy photographer Chad Harder bagged his whitetail buck on opening day and is now off chasing elk in southwest Montana’s extended season.
And, so on and so on. Ochenski's point is that in Montana, and I would expand that across the West, real environmentalists are people that feel a real, every day connection to the environment. These are people that see the places worth preserving as being not only a nice back drop to their lives, a part of their personal well being and quality of life, but as human habitat. They would have a hard time living, literally, if timber companies were to move in and clear cut over a stream, or WalMart paved over a wetland.
Ochenski does this because he reads that David Sirota is drawing a hard line between hunters, who might vote like environmentalists, but would never call themselves that, and actual environmentalists. And, Sirota seems to think that if a hunter would walk into a bar and admit himself to be an environmentalist, he might as well wip out his PETA and ACLU card.
With the hunters and fishers I know, it would take them about two sentences in a conversation to admit to being environmentalists. I know this isn't how people react to political campaign messages, but the difference between Johnny Deer Hunter and Bobby Suburu Outback with the Kayak, isn't that much.
Emmett O'Connell | December 27, 2004 | Comment on This Post (0 so far) |
Meet the Salazar Brothers
The Associated Press has discovered the Salazar Brothers of Colorado. Ken, the outgoing Attorney General, has been elected the state's U.S. Senator; and his brother, John, is a freshly minted Congressman.
It seems that various forces within the party are jockeying to imprint their own lesson-learned from the Salazar victories.
Some are pointing to their Hispanic background. Others (like Al From at the DLC) are pointing at their willingness to talk about their faith.
Here's my "lessons learned" argument: It's about plain speaking in a language that real Americans can understand. It's about culture, not the "cultural issues" of abortion and gay marriage, but speaking from a culture that everyday Americans understand. And that language comes to us from the West.
Listen to John Salazar:
"We know the values of hard work, integrity and honesty, and we know the struggles that people have in rural communities ... You learn in rural Colorado that your family is more than blood relatives ... In small towns, you rely on your neighbors during harvest, when you're fixing fences, when you're rounding up cattle, when you need someone to pick up your children at school."
Now close your eyes and imagine John Kerry saying that. Almost makes the egg nog snort out your nose, doesn't it?
Kari Chisholm | December 26, 2004 | Comment on This Post (3 so far) |
Harry Reid: Definitely Not Boring
Over at Slate.com, Chris Suellentrop is busy putting to rest the widespread D.C. notion that Harry Reid - the new Democratic Leader in the US Senate - is a boring, dull guy.
And here's another story from Reid's tenure as chairman of the gaming commission: A man named Jack Gordon, who later married LaToya Jackson, tried to give Reid a $12,000 bribe. Reid let the FBI videotape Gordon offering him the bribe, and then, according to a Las Vegas Review-Journal account, he "put his hands around Gordon's neck and said, 'You son of a bitch, you tried to bribe me.'" That's right, Senate Democrats are being led by a man who once tried to strangle LaToya Jackson's future husband-manager. You call that boring?
And there's more where that came from...
Kari Chisholm | December 23, 2004 | Comment on This Post (2 so far) |
The importance of Guv Dave not making the DNC
When it came time for the governor of Wyoming to make up his mind whether to attend the Democratic National Convention in Boston this year, he decided to skip it for the biggest rodeo in his state. Good choice, in my eyes.
No one mentioned this minor defection, or at least I didn't hear anything about it, but it does point to the difference between the Democratic Party that was on parade in Boston and the Democratic politician that stayed home in Wyoming.
But now some are asking whether Freudenthal's absence from the convention might have something to do with a lukewarm feeling towards the Democratic nominee, Sen. John Kerry. Lara Azar, Freudenthal's press secretary, said on Friday (July 30) that the governor is not yet ready to say whether he supports Kerry. According to the capital reporter for the Casper Star-Tribune, Joan Barron, Freudenthal's "reticence may signal fear of the 'L' label the Republicans are determined to pin on Kerry." According to Barron, a recent article in Roll Call quoted an unidentified Republican operative as saying Freudenthal governs like Sen. Zell Miller, "the wayward ultraconservative Georgia Democrat."
Freudenthal's alleged fear of the liberal label is grounded in history. In 1994, Freudenthal saw his friend, former Democratic governor Mike Sullivan, have his 1992 endorsement of Bill Clinton tied around his neck as he sought the US Senate seat. Freudenthal successfully avoided the same label in 2002, despite having served as US Attorney during the Clinton administration. Looking forward to his 2006 re-election race, Freudenthal might have wanted to avoid photographs of him embracing Kerry, especially since the Democrats are seeking to oust Wyoming's current favorite son, Vice President Dick Cheney.
My point is that Gov. Dave never had a reason support John Kerry, except for that Kerry and Freudenthal are both Democrats. Kerry was never going to win in Wyoming and never really tried to win in the interior West. Freudenthal, and other politicians like Brian Schweitzer and the Salazars, know the way to win west of the 100th Meridian, and apparently parties in Boston are further down the list than rodeos in Cheyenne.
Freudenthal is the acme of what we would consider a Western Democrat. Incredibly popular in what most would consider a strong "red state," Freudenthal has carved out his place in Wyoming politics by proving his detractors, who call him a closet liberal, wrong.
At the same time, he didn’t saddle up for the Republican National Convention, like some other Democrats. *Cough*Zell*Cough*Miller*
Just because the Northeast wing of the Democratic Party is marching the wrong way, doesn’t mean that better Democrats in the West should jump ship and start talking about spit balls and challenging folks to duels. There is a way to bring the Democratic Ship around, and its where Freudenthal was when everyone else was in Boston.
Emmett O'Connell | December 23, 2004 | Comment on This Post (0 so far) |
