The Modern Independent

Libertarianism, Democrats, and the West

The libertarian strain that permeates throughout Colorado--and the interior West more broadly--has always made the region difficult to place within the traditional liberal-conservative ideological divide. At various times and depending on the issue, both Democrats and Republicans have been able to court the libertarian vote. But, libertarians are a finicky bunch and, they have always been uneasy about declaring a strict allegiance to either party. Despite a decades long partnership with the GOP, the Republican Party's tilt toward the socially conservative South, along with President Bush's 'big-government conservatism' made this sparsely populated region fertile ground for the Democrats. Yet, months of bailouts, frustration with Obama's management of the economy and with his bungled health care campaign, not to mention Congress's passage of cap and trade, has turned the West's marriage of convenience with the Democrats into a relationship destined for divorce.

A recently published article in the Economist reminds us that, despite the Democrats recent electoral success, the West is not a preserve of electoral blue; rather, it's a vast ocean of purple. I published an article in the Loveland Reporter Herald in 2005, a few months after the 2004 election, noting the Democratic trend in the Rocky Mountain West. In an election year where Republicans routed the Democrats nationally and pundits were talking about the possibility of a permanent Republican majority, Montana, Arizona and New Mexico all had Democratic Governors; and Colorado voters voted the Republican majority in both houses of state legislature out of office, elected Democrat Ken Salazar to the U.S. Senate and his brother Tom Salazar to Congress.