Blue-state musings from a red-state woman
A not-so-dyed-in-the-wool liberal defends her right to take up residence in a true-blue state, and explains why small-l libertarianism holds some appeal.
This November, for the first time since Bill Clinton's 1992 victory, I experienced affinity with my fellow electorate, as all but one of my favored candidates won, and every one of the ballot items I voted for passed. From Barack Obama for president down to a yes for a proposition funding public transit improvements, my affinity with Seattle voters is sealed.
I've lived in the Pacific Northwest for just six years. Either I'm in the right place at the right time, or, as some might argue, I'm now living in the wrong place. Judging by the ballot results, too many of my brethren agree with me here in liberal la-la land. The reason the results of this year's presidential election were surprising to Seattleites despite poll indications that Obama would win is because 2004 was so upsetting. You live in the liberal cocoon that is Seattle and are shocked when your fellow countrymen re-elect George W. Bush.
It's fashionable to criticize people like me, who were drawn to Seattle in part because of the liberal political scene. Shortly after moving here, I told an acquaintance it was comforting to see that my neighbors had a "No Iraq War" sign in their front yard; whereas, in slightly more conservative Tacoma, Wash., our "John Kerry" sign had twice been destroyed. The acquaintance then lectured me on the importance of being a voice of dissent in a conservative climate. Easy for her to say. She grew up in the socialist state of Vermont and lived in New York City prior to Seattle.
Apparently, what I should do is go back to one of the red states (by 2004 definitions, anyway) I've previously called home: Missouri, Florida, Texas, or Arizona. Except for a handful of years in California (one being the year of my birth) and about six years downstate in the red area of otherwise blue Illinois, I've spent the bulk of my life in the reds. And another thing: I'm a military brat, so you might say I grew up in the most conservative communities within those red states.
There's a political elitism at work when someone says that liberals should somehow infiltrate red areas, and, like so many religious missionaries, convert the heathens. I learned long ago that this is the wrong tact to take, that instead, one must realize that our states, our towns, our very streets are not segregated ideologically. While attending a Catholic university, I organized a group of students to participate in the pro-choice March for Women's Lives. My 13-year period of vegetarianism began not in the comfort of a college town known for its vegetarian restaurants but while living in a small burg near a military base in the Midwest, where the best I could hope for, culinarily speaking, were bean burritos at Taco Bell. I was inspired by my best friend at the time, a girl who grew up there and had developed a fierce animal rights mindset more or less on her own.
This year, my one local candidate pick who didn't win, Marcia McCraw, is a Republican. But not so fast: She favors gay marriage, is pro-choice, and wanted to promote renewable energy. I'm not the only one who voted for her; our dependably lefty weekly for teens and twentysomethings, the Stranger, endorsed her, and not just to cast a protest vote against our incumbent lieutenant governor, who makes a sort of mockery out of an easy public office, his knighthood notwithstanding. Furthermore, he was one of few Democrats to receive endorsement by the Building Industry Association of Washington, which viciously attacked Democratic Gov. Christine Gregoire.
Lest you chalk up my one Republican vote in this year's election to serendipity, here's more evidence that those red states have colored my world purple: a certain right-wing popularity among readers. Furthermore, I'm not a fan of Seattle's sanctimonious liberal coterie. There's the grant-writer who blames TV for the Iraq War. There's the people who give me trouble for owning an "SUV," even after I point out that my Honda CRV is a mini-ute that gets better gas mileage than their hand-me-down grandma sedans. (Contrary to popular belief among Seattleites, a Kucinich bumper sticker does not translate into higher MPGs.) On the extreme end of this trend are the ecoterrorists who torched the University of Washington's Center for Urban Horticulture.
Finally, I confess to a certain affection for libertarians (little 'L' libertarian, distinct from the Libertarian Party) that would make most liberal Seattleites write me off. During my college senior inquiry in American Studies, I came under the sway of arguments favoring a strain of anarchy that was not to be equated with violence but rather with the peaceful abolition of (or practically speaking, reduction of) government.
The problem with a large, powerful government is that the hand that gives can also take away, and government monopoly often means none of the competition that promotes excellence and innovation. An example from my childhood: My parents opted to buy their own health insurance — through what turned out to be a mismanaged HMO — rather than continue to use the free but in their estimation shoddy services provided by military medicine, even though they could barely afford the expense.
The impracticality of the libertarian position gets to me, however. Where government has always played a strong role (education, welfare, scientific research, cultural heritage and history, the arts, etc.), voluntarism would have to step in to fill the void. And that would take nothing short of a full-scale societal revolution (again, of the non-violent sort). When it comes down to it, I'm not convinced people will take care of each other (through social services) and address the things that matter (such as global warming) on a voluntary basis. So I vote with the Democrats.
My libertarian sympathies probably explain the interest in Marcia McCraw. Gone are the days of politicians who profess to being socially liberal and fiscally conservative, as she does. I'd like to think it could work, however, and that we'll see more of it. Yes, even here in the liberal cocoon.
Editor's note: This story appeared previously in Blogcritics Magazine.Like what you just read? Support high quality local journalism. Become a member of Crosscut today!
Twitter
Facebook
RSS Feeds
Comments:
Posted Fri, Dec 5, 9:02 a.m. Inappropriate
Thank you for recognizing that libertarians aren't conservatives. Most of my liberal friends see America as being composed of two factions: Enlightened big-government FDR style socialists like themselves, and fascists. This is what happens when you try to stuff all political philosophies into a left-right line.
Posted Fri, Dec 5, 9:05 a.m. Inappropriate
I'm glad you've found a slice of paradise. Personally, I find Seattle "liberalism" to be as shallow as a puddle of spit. It seems to serve more to filter than inform. Dissent amounts to a bumper sticker. Thus we have the ignoramus who slaps an anti-Iraq War sticker on a car as a protest against an war intended to maintain a lifestyle associated with the car. The Neo-Cons were disaffected liberals, after all.
Posted Fri, Dec 5, 10:07 a.m. Inappropriate
I find it refreshing to hear the viewpoint from someone who is clearly a reasonable citizen. I found the divisive tone of the last election really distasteful. I resent pompous liberals telling me I'm an idiot for even talking with conservatives, much less counting them as my friends. I have a problem with Republicans who spew the party line and write me off as a bleeding liberal because we have some opposing views. It is difficult to maintain relationships with people with different viewpoints; it takes work in diplomacy and patience. But if we don't continue to have discussions across the divide (which grew after the rhetoric of the last election) we will continue to foster an environment of mistrust and defensiveness. We need a meaningful and respectful climate to move forward and, dare I say, compromise on solutions that will bring our nation together. The idea of libertarian (with a little "l") is a good start.
Posted Fri, Dec 5, 11:17 a.m. Inappropriate
Coming from a family blood-line of Ohio Republicans, I can tell you that people are born into their political parties. They stick with their parties sometimes out of loyalty and once in awhile, out of downright ignorance. They confess they don’t want to put the energy into thinking about and weighing the issues, fair enough. That’s not much different from apathetic and cynical attitudes that keep both left and right leaning citizens from even going to the polls. Speaking of the past election results, Bush did not win the 2004 election. There was gross mishandling of ballots, voting procedures, etc. that led to the eventual outcome. Engaged Republicans, the ones who put some thought into things like the value of a pro-life stand which should include education, contraception and family planning, are good and intelligent people. They collectively dissent against some of their leadership’s decisions. They were as fed up with the self-interest, “good ol’ boy” abuse of power as we all were. We all know the difference between right and wrong and that’s what we need to rely on from here on out. My family, the one’s in Ohio, Indiana, Arizona, Virginia and Florida (yes, I have 4 sisters and 2 brothers and my mother and these are their home states!), talked back and fourth about politics and the candidates for the first time this past election. This is a first, and it’s an indication of the open and honest discussions that we all need to have with family and friends. We quickly find that we have some things in common, and we also each hold fast to a diversity of opinions, but most importantly, we each have the freedom to choose a party affiliation, like I did, whether your lineage is red….or blue.
– allseasuntrails, with help from dykim88, Seattle, WA
Posted Fri, Dec 5, 11:22 a.m. Inappropriate
Small clarification on the above. I mean that I know some Repubicans who plead ignorance and vote their blood-line, not that it is true for all or most. My mistake.
-- allseasuntrails Seattle, WA
Posted Fri, Dec 5, 12:37 p.m. Inappropriate
"Speaking of the past election results, Bush did not win the 2004 election."
-
Yeah, and Obama was born in Kenya.
Posted Sat, Dec 6, 10:54 a.m. Inappropriate
Ok, we get it. You and Knute and the rest of Crosscut are liberal, but not that aweful, pretentious, latte sipping, hypocritical, straw-man *Seattle* liberal invented by right-wingers who have never even been here.
Posted Sun, Dec 7, 9:04 p.m. Inappropriate
Amen, Lisa. Leftatarians (I can't believe there are only about four Google hits for that term, because I know I've seen it around, and have certainly heard it spoken) unite!
During the last eight years it seemed to be a mortal sin in Seattle not to declare oneself a liberal Democrat, let alone to affirmatively declare oneself a libertarian or Republican. I think it was outside the realm of possibility for many Seattle liberals that non-Democrats could really exist within the city limits. (Well, OK, Greens and socialists got a pass.)
I remember back in 2005 or 2006 having a discussion at work in which it was assumed I was a good Seattle liberal. When I said I wasn't, it was if I had admitted to having a taste for human flesh. "Conservative" was the only plausible alternative to my interlocutors. When I explained that I thought of myself more as a libertarian, I got the "so you think we should privatize the police?" line. When I further explained that I was really a "bad" libertarian, as I tended to vote with the Democrats (though I, too, did vote for McCraw), that didn't help. In fact, I think it served to set me further apart than if I had proudly announced my support for George W. Bush. Pointing out that I agreed 100% with them on civil-libertarian issues and probably 50% with them on economic issues (as opposed to W supporters, who would hardly be with them on anything) didn't help. I think complete opposition they could understand and dismiss, but, as usual, deviation from the accepted norms, they just couldn't.
Lisa, you're right — the pure libertarian position is impractical. But I've heard it said that the majority of Americans are broadly in favor of libertarian principles. I think there are a lot more people like you and I out there than people think, or than are portrayed in the media. People love the red-state-blue-state/conservative-liberal/Republican-Democrat/good-evil dichotomies, but that simply isn't how the world works.
I keep hoping that, one day, this silent majority will start speaking up, and I will be able to find a more comfortable political home.
Posted Tue, Dec 9, 10:55 a.m. Inappropriate
Ben, thanks so much for your comments. It's comforting to know there are others of like mind out there. Keep the faith.
Posted Tue, Dec 9, 10:58 a.m. Inappropriate
mcfox,
I'm curious to know whether you found the tone of this past presidential election more or less divisive than the last. I found it less so, at least on Obama's side, but perhaps I'm giving his campaign too much credit? CW seems to say he ran it albeit flawlessly. Would like to know what you think of as divisive.
Thanks, also, for the compliment. I strive to maintain a reasonable state of mind and am glad that came across in this piece.
Login or register to add your voice to the conversation.