Post party politics and the West The Big Strategy

Gary Trauner, who gave the Rep. Barbra Cuban a run for her money in Wyoming, has a great piece up at New West. It answers the question of why the interior West is running purple all of a sudden, why Democrats are doing so well in a Republican region.

Well, it was never a Republican region to begin with. Not a Democratic one either, its a region without partisan attachments:

I happened to knock on the door of a leader of her local Republican Party – let’s call her Mrs. Lincoln (not her real name, but appropriate). She invited me in to her home, and over the next twenty minutes we had one of the more interesting discussions of my entire campaign. We agreed that partisanship is not inherently bad – it can allow people of like-mind, with similar philosophies, to band together for support and to promote their views. However, much to my amazement, Mrs. Lincoln decried the blind and bitter partisanship she saw nationally, and even locally, in her own party. To illustrate her point, she asked if I thought Republicans were inherently stronger on national security. As you might imagine, I did not. She then asked (rhetorically, I hope) if I changed parties tomorrow, would I be any stronger on national security as a Republican than as a Democrat. The absurdity of it all was immediately clear.

...

This has real consequences for those of us in the West who are looking to government to act as a true partner in dealing with difficult, emotional and seemingly intractable issues: health care, energy development, or balancing growth with our natural wonders. Regionally, we are moving to pragmatic leaders who value substance over slogan, people over party. Leaders like Dave Freudenthal in Wyoming, Brian Schweitzer in Montana and, yes, even Arnold Schwarzenegger in California (okay, at least in his second term). These leaders are not about personal attacks or cheap slogans like “Cut and run,” “stay the course,” or “socialized medicine.” They are more interested in looking for serious solutions to complex issues.

While its worth pointing out that polling numbers don't point to higher numbers of self identified independents in Western States, that doesn't necessarily make Trauner wrong. If a Democratic governor of Wyoming can poll higher with Republicans (78 percent) than he does across the board (77 percent) than there is something to be said about party labels mattering a lot less than performance.

Emmett O'Connell | March 12, 2007 | Comment on This Post (0 so far) Permalink: Post party politics and the West The Big Strategy

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