A Nod to Todd

For years I have been telling anyone who would listen just how misunderstood Western politics are in other regions of the country, and for years it hasn't seemed to matter much. After watching this mornings Meet the Press, I feel a bit vindicated.

Much hay has been made recently about the "transformation" of Western politics. State after state has seen Republican governors replaced by Democrats, so too with state legislators, and congressional delegations. So much so that both the McCain and Obama campaigns consider the American West to be the swing region to watch this November.

I have frustratingly endured all this talk, knowing full well that very little has changed in Western politics. This morning NBC's political director Chuck Todd explained this point very clearly to Tom Brokaw as they sat in front of Wyoming's Grand Tetons. Western politics is largely based on a libertarianism that doesn't translate easily to other regions. (Take for example Ron Paul's success in Montana, where he won many counties, finished second only to Mitt Romney, and created a heated nomination fight at the state's GOP convention just a week or so ago despite the fact that John McCain is the settled nominee.)

According to Mr. Todd, as the Republican party has become more dominated by the moral conservatism of the religious right, it has created a huge vaccuum of center-right libertarianism. Democrats have become successful in the West only insofar as they have moved to occupy this territory.

To illustrate the point I offer two quitessentially Western quotes. One of them was by Republican hero Barry Goldwater and one was by Democratic darling Brian Schweitzer of Montana.

- I own more guns than I need, but not as many as I want. (regarding gun control).

- You don't have to be straight to shoot straight. (regarding gays in the military).

Of course, the former was Schweitzer and the latter Goldwater. Both seem at odds with predictable liberal or conservative, and Democrat or Republican orthodoxy, but both have the simple, no-nonsense formulation of the American West. Note that Ronald Reagan, himself a Westerner, was sensitive to this reality and able to hold the Republican coalition together, while George W. Bush, a southerner, is not and has not. The role this plays in the parties current troubles cannot be overstated.

Finally someone in the Washington press circle gets this.