Idea of the Week: How To Win in the West
The Interior West -- the vast area running from Idaho and Montana to New Mexico and Arizona -- is commonly thought of as a bastion of conservative ideology and Republican electoral habits. And it's true that conservative candidates, especially at the presidential level, have had a clear advantage in the region in recent decades.
But that may be changing, according to former Deputy Interior Secretary David J. Hayes, in an important new report from the Progressive Policy Institute. The very issues of land and resource management that have so often worked to the advantage of conservatives in the West now offer an opportunity to progressives -- if they are smart enough to link wise public stewardship of the region's resources to Western traditions.
In Winning the West, Hayes draws attention to recent Democratic gains in the Interior West, where very popular Democratic governors serve in Montana, Wyoming, Arizona, and New Mexico; where Democrats gained control of legislatures in Montana and Colorado in 2004; and where Democrats also picked up a Senate and rural House seat that year in Colorado.
"Although Western states still deliver some of the biggest Republican margins in presidential races," says Hayes, "moderate Democrats are rapidly gaining ground down the ballot. If progressives play it right, more gains are just around the corner -- with clear implications for future presidential contests." Indeed, the rapid growth of the West will make it a far bigger electoral prize in the future.
Understanding the West, says Hayes, begins with understanding the unique importance of public land and other resources issues. "The U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, and Park Service lands account for more than half the total land mass of Arizona, Colorado, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming. The management of these lands and their resources is vitally important to Westerners."
But in the past, progressives generally, and Democrats specifically, have been identified with the federal government itself, enabling Republicans to closely identify with the libertarian, "leave us alone" tradition of the West, even as GOP policies led to public subsidies for uncontrolled private development at the expense of the region's quality of life. Now there are growing signs progressives can turn the tables. Hayes cites successful 2004 Montana gubernatorial candidate Brian Schweitzer as a good example.
Brian Schweitzer embraced the state's huge hunting, fishing, and wildlife-watching constituency (an estimated 723,000 of the state's 970,000 residents) and promised to fight to preserve and expand public access to prime hunting lands and fishing streams. He vowed to keep public lands in government hands, to spend more money to maintain them for hunters and anglers, and to buy easements from private property owners to facilitate public access.
Likewise, Colorado Attorney General Ken Salazar won a Senate seat in 2004 in no small part by touting his record as a "resource pragmatist" who resolved longstanding conflicts over water resources. New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson has focused on energy development on public lands, simultaneously opening up some areas to oil and gas development and placing environmentally sensitive lands off-limits, despite pressure from the Bush administration. Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano, currently chair of the Western Governors Association, is leading the region in identifying successful strategies for "sustainable local economies and a healthy environment."
Hayes identifies four key elements of a "coherent, progressive vision for the West" on land and resource issues:
- Demand Value for Private Use of Public Land, reducing public subsidies for uncontrolled logging, hard-rock mining, and use of federally controlled water and power supplies.
- Set Higher Standards for Developing Pristine Lands, placing some areas off-limits, but also placing "sensible conditions" on "the privilege to use the public lands, including commitments to address environmental damage to federal lands through investments in mitigation."
- Embrace Local Input Into Land Management Decisions, abandoning the habit of favoring decision making in Washington and strengthening a constructive role for states, local communities, and citizens.
- Be as Flexible with Private Landowners as Possible, challenging conservative championship of private property rights and identifying "win-win solutions that satisfy environmental imperatives and meet landowner needs."
Fortunately for progressives, demographic changes in the West, including rapid urbanization and in-migration of people attracted to the region's natural beauty and high quality of life, are helping build a strong constituency for the kind of balanced message and agenda on land and resources issues that Hayes recommends. But while the West is changing, its values and traditions are very durable, and should provide a clear basis for progressive policies. As Rep. Mark Udall (D-CO) noted in prepared remarks for delivery at a PPI forum on the Hayes report:
The libertarian tradition in the West is very strong. So is the strain of fierce independence. Most voters in my part of the country are neither Republican nor Democrats; they are Independent. The West also harbors an enduring tradition of progressivism -- including a strong commitment to building community. Finally, the West was borne of optimism and is future oriented.If Democrats are to win in the West, our party has to build on all three traditions.
That's sound advice for progressives involved in all aspects of government and politics in the West.