A National Party No More Congress, Governors, Regionalism, The Big Strategy

I stumbled across this article earlier today and I thought it had a ton of pertinent information for Western Democrats.  The thesis of the article is that this election will herald the first non-southern majority in quite some time (if the Democrats win, that is).  The author argues that 2006 will see final alignment towards the Democrats that the Northeast and uppermidwest has been waiting for:

Five states within this rectangle have three or more Republicans in jeopardy: Connecticut, Indiana, New York, Ohio and Pennsylvania. Democratic candidates in Iowa, Illinois, New Hampshire and Wisconsin are also competitive.

The author also notes that in the West another re-alignment is occurring:

Meanwhile, Republicans are even struggling to hold seats in some distinctly red portions of the country, including eastern Washington, western Idaho, central New Mexico, southeastern Arizona and Wyoming...

Turning westward, Colorado's Bill Ritter is pulling away from Republican Rep. Bob Beauprez, and Dina Titus has been handed a late-campaign windfall in Nevada courtesy of two brewing scandals involving Republican nominee Jim Gibbons. If Mr. Ritter and Ms. Titus both win, the number of Democratic governors in the eight interior West states will jump from four to six. In 2001, there were none.

The final part of the article gives the credit where credit is due:

Ms. Pelosi was raised in Baltimore, but the district she represents is in Berkeley, Calif. Mr. Reid hails from Nevada, and Mr. Richardson is governor of New Mexico. These three Westerners are hoping that January 2007 will be a month filled with moving boxes and moving speeches hallmarking the end of the Republicans' 12-year congressional and gubernatorial reign.

I remember a couple of years ago, Zell Miller published his book "A National Party No More" and concluded that the Democratic Party was not competitive around (and was not representative) of the nation.  How about these apples, Zell?

Where he (and other happy pundits) were so quick to surmise the demise of the Democratic Party around the country, the 2006 election will most likely showcase the suprising lack of strength of the GOP outside of the former Confederacy.  The GOP should be asking itself these questions right now - Can we remain a viable party just catering to the intensity of our southern bloc?  Does the possible success the Democratic Party will show on November 7th highlight the effectiveness of combining progressive issues and good governance in all regions of our country? 

These are serious questions that will haunt the GOP for the next two years.  As I've argued before (and have seen many others argue) that only if the Democratic Party uses this unique opportunity we've been given in 2006 can we forge a new majority in this country that will sustain positive progress among our people and our nation.  I also happen to smile a little bit at the traditional media's awakening that perhaps the GOP isn't as national and broad as it makes itself out to be.  Hopefully, a greater understanding of the latter, combined with good fortune of the former will be in the stars for our party.

It's funny how in two years, the picture can look so different.

Landon Mascareñaz | October 27, 2006 | Comment on This Post (2 so far) Permalink: A National Party No More Congress, Governors, Regionalism, The Big Strategy

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