Turning democrat, the West is turning Democrat, I really think so…
Posted
November 12, 2006 at
12:00 pm by
Julie
In the Sunday Denver Post today, an article in the?‚? Opinion section discusses the political shift in the Mountain States.
A historically Republican region,?‚? five states now have Democratic governors:?‚? Colorado (where I live), New Mexico, Arizona, Wyoming, and Montana.?‚? The Republican holdouts are Utah, Nevada, and Idaho.
I’m a registered Republican, and I voted for the Democratic candidate for governor in Colorado.
But as the article states, Western Democrats seem to be on a completely different page than Democrats who hail from the Eastern states.?‚? Western Democrats have an ideology that lines up more closely with Libertarianism than with Liberalism.?‚? In my research of the candidates, I found that to be true - hence my decision to cross party lines.
Granted, there were some issues on the ballot in Colorado?‚? - such as legalization of marijuana and same-sex partner benefits - that failed by about a two-thirds margin.?‚? The state may technically be classified as “blue” now, but it’s certainly not the same shade of blue as New York or Massachusetts.
What I hope this shift truly signals is a move to the middle.?‚? It’s not a matter of red vs. blue, or that the beliefs of one party are the antithesis of the beliefs of the other party.?‚? Contrary to what the politicians on both sides would have us believe, in reality we’re all much closer than we’d think.
Tags: News-&-Politics |
3 Responses to “Turning democrat, the West is turning Democrat, I really think so…”
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1. Jessica said:
November 12, 2006 @ 1:38 pm
One important lesson learned from this recent election is how much power the independents/moderates hold. For so long, we’ve been beaten over the head with the notion that this country is so divided. It’s really not. The divisiveness comes from the 20% of people that declare themselves liberal and the 30% that declare themselves conservative. That leaves 50% of the nation as being moderate or swing voters.
When I was growing up, Democrats that leaned towards the center or even towards the right on some issues were called “Democratic Hawks” or Hawkish Democrats. I’ve heard a new phrase being bantered about — “Blue Dog Democrats”. These types of Republicans exist as well, and you’re right, they are often times label themselves as Libertarian.
I still don’t consider Colorado a blue state however, I think it’s purple and I think both parties need to wake up and realize that the majority of people in this country do not want their radical ideals, but a common sense approach.
It will interesting to see what happens in ‘08. With the main contenders (at least right now) being Hillary Clinton vs. John McCain, who’s going to be able to tell them apart for God’s sake!
I’m so relieved that the Dems have control now and that the Republicans can maybe go back to their small government ways. As a registered Republican myself, I am at peace with the new direction. Never again will I think it’s a good thing to have all 3 legislative branches in the same party.
However, liberals — you’re on notice! Pander to your base and my vote goes away, work together and meet in the middle and who knows who I’ll vote for next time around. (I also voted for a mix of Democrats and Republicans last Tuesday.)
2. kim said:
November 14, 2006 @ 8:34 am
Dude, I didn’t know they had a label for my politics. I’m a Western Dem, I’m pretty sure that still won’t fly down here.
3. Sonia said:
November 20, 2006 @ 3:02 pm
I think that Julie has the same ideas that many people do. And I agree. I am a self-described Liberal democrat here in Minnesota. But I think that both Democrats and Republicans have the same goals for our nation - strong families, safe nation, strong economy, etc. - but each party has VERY different ideas on how to get there. I’m a very “power to the people” type idealist, and I’m wondering how that will play out in the coming years. And coming from an historically Democratic state of MN, who has elected both Republican and Independence party leaders in recent decades, I think most of us are in the very moderate state of mind along with the rest of the nation.
We are all in this together, so I hope it’s time we started acting that way.