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Another Western Democrat Elected to a Leadership Position
Senators, The Big Strategy, Washington

The Democratic Party is clearly looking west for leadership in the 110th Congress and not hesitating to name women to leadership posts either.

Senator Patty Murray of Washington was elected as Conference Secretary, the fourth-ranking person in leadership of the Senate Democratic Caucus.

In addition to Harry Reid and Patty Murray, important Senate leadership positions are held by two other Western Democrats. Senator Jeff Bingaman of New Mexico is Committee Outreach Chairman, and Senator Barbara Boxer is Chief Deputy Whip.

Senators Murray and Boxer join Speaker of the House-elect Nancy Pelosi as leading women in the Congress from the West Coast. Such ascendancy has a long tradition in the West. Before 1917, the only states in the Union that granted the vote to women were in the West. The first woman elected to Congress was Jeannette Rankin of Montana.

Hat tip to Ridenbaugh Press, a very fine blog covering the Northwest.

Here is a link to all the leaders in the 110th Congress.

Leo Brown | November 25, 2006 | Comment on This Post (2 so far)
Permalink: Another Western Democrat Elected to a Leadership Position
Senators, The Big Strategy, Washington

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Western Democrats in leadership positions bodes well for the next Congress to get work done, compromise across the aisle, and stick to an agenda favored by the majority of Americans and not just the narrow band of extremists from the New York, Massachusetts, and the San Francisco bay area (let's face it, San Fran is "western" geographically but politically it's not even in touch with the rest of California.)

Along with the centrist "Blue Dogs," the ascendency of western pragmatism within the party leadership may even help us hold on to our recent gains instead of getting bogged down in no-compromise social engineering experiments most people see no value in (like gun prohibition, to name one divisive issue forced on to the party by the San Fran-Boston power axis.)

Posted by: Zak J. | Nov 30, 2006 8:58:02 AM

Dianne Feinstein was Mayor of San Francisco and Barbara Boxer is from Marin. Go Bay Area!

Posted by: ketu | Nov 30, 2006 6:12:55 PM

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(and yes, we know that sometimes they're very, very wrong. Other times, they're right on.)