February 23, 2005
Cascade Curtain or Space Needle Effect?
That's the question I answer in my post on Washington's basic political divisions. Those discussing the possible division of the state will find it especially interesting, I think.
(I did not cross post it here because it contains large graphics, if you are wondering.)
Posted by Jim Miller at February 23, 2005
08:29 AM | Email This
1. Perhaps a better dividing line would be between a.)the City of Seattle and b.)the rest of the state.
2. I think the red/blue color choices are either reversed of what is normally used for Rep/Dem, or you just like blue, or I haven't really woke up yet.
I don't know who picked red for Republicans.
I thought the Demos were traditionally considered the "red" party.
I am still ruminating on your theory because in eastern Washington we don't jump to conclusions too quickly.
3. Why would the east coast states give up power by giving the west 2 more senators and it doesn't matter which flavor. It is all about power.
It seems that after the original 13 states, the new states were large in area (and at the time sparsely populated).
Who can't argue that California should not be two or even three states?
But we can argue that some podunk states like Vermont, Delaware and Maine, to just name a couple, could be bunched up or merged to leave room for California II.
4. I don't follow the more recent convention for colors when I make poltical maps because it (1) contradicts that used by most scholars, (2) contradicts the conventions in most other countries, and (3) contradicts the usual political associations of the colors. And because I hate the idea of being a "red".
(I am convinced, though I admit that I don't have proof, that the wrong color convention was chosen by folks in the "mainstream" media to prevent the Democrats from being labeled red. Though a few could be, and many could be labeled pink.)
5. Interesting work Jim. Might I make another suggestion: Divide WA State into a Republic. That way instead of offices like Govenor aren't elected by a mob but by having a majority of the reps from each county. That way little or rural counties have the same clout as Seattle. Based on that both Cant(do)well and Gregoire would both have lost having only carried a few counties out of 39.
6. If you want to keep going with the whole crazy idea.....link up N. Idaho with E. Washington, with which it has more in common than S. Idaho.
And how about W. Oregon & E. Oregon...same situation as Washington...Liberal Portland & Eugene vs rest of state.
As Jimmy Durante used to say.."I've got a million of 'em."
7. I agree with JG, switch the colors, you are messing with my head :-)
8. I live on the west side and having lived on both sides of the hill, I can understand why this State should be divided. Especially whan one county can vertually dictate the course of the States future. Through incompitance or fraud, it makes little difference. The people on the East side get poor representation either due to the politics or money on the west side.
9. Hey JG - you have it dead on -- I have been p-o'ed re that red/blue bs ever since it first surfaced - it was an invention of the Bolshevic media and obviously one of their g-d twist-around tricks intended to blur the reality of the Bolshevism of the DemocRAT party and their fellow travelers -- the communists have always been know as the 'REDS' they were reds in Russia and China has been "RED CHINA" for almost 60 years now -- so the SOB's are now trying to screw up reality (some more) by refering to the one (and only) force on the face of the earth that will ever stop the Bolshevics from finally enslaving the human race as: "THE REDS"
10. The Space Needle theory originates, I think, with Scoop Jackson, who is said to have once claimed that he could see all the voters he needed from the observation deck of the Space Needle.
Obviously, a split is not politically realistic, in part because it would involve creating a new Republican state, complete with two new Republican U.S. senators. There could be the makings of a deal, however: you get a new Republican state in eastern Washington if Washington, D.C. gets statehood at the same time.
11. Speaking of the DecocRAT party as the REDS -do not ever forget the extreme advantages that the ClinTONG administration gave to the RED CHINESE re missle and other defense sensitive technology -- and that SOB spent most of the rest of the time between his tarting around -- (what was that I heard a long time ago re NERO and a fiddle - huummmm) good ol' boy Bill was sliming around trying to usurp the Republican intitiatives and ideas as his own as the liberal slime underfoot was causing a major loss of traction -- now we have the Hilda-beast pulling off the same twist around usurping crap - that one is a pure Bolshevic and must be kept out of the Whitehouse.
12. I've lived on both sides of the state, also.
But I think the answer to all of this is fair, honest elections.
We all know in looking at the last one (and possibly others in the past) that there was fraud committed. Alot of the fraud has developed in the west side, King Co. specifically. This has allowed the west side to dominate with their agenda. It has kept the east side, I suspect for alot of years, it's poor sister, and kept the east somewhat satisfied with "crumbs across the cascades".
But the jig is up....now we know that their power is acquired through fraudulent and illegal means. It's out in the open and they can't hide it anymore.
Thanks to Stefan and others, we have the ability to take back our WHOLE state. Let's hang in there and clean up the whole rotten process by re-registration of all voters by using proper ID. Then we can vote the frauds out!
13. On the red/blue thing, I know for a fact that it is a relatively recent invention of the media in this country; I pulled out my 1994 election wrapup edition of Time magazine, and the (at the time new) GOP majority was blue, and the Dems were red. I cannot recall the 96 elections, but by 2000 red was the establishment media's preferred color for the Republicans. I know that the leftists made the association with blood (Paul Begala specifically pointed out that Texas and Wyoming were red states, the states in which James Byrd and Matthew Shepard were murdered), and attempted to downplay the commonalities between communism and the Democratic Party.
14. Many on the east side are sick of being treated like the red-headed stepchild. It's just that simple.
15. 1. A new state could be created east of the mountains if its admission were linked with the admission of Washington DC. Sort of like the paired admissions before the Civil War.
2. Republicans should be the red color. They are the party of change and revolution.
16. As a former resident of Oregon and now a resident of Yakima,WA, I would heartily endorse a division of Washington. Oregon should do the same as it suffers the same problem that eastern Washington does.
If Washington is able to divide into two states we would have two senators for the newly created area, senators that truly represent the beliefs and values of the people of eastern Washington. Cantwell and Murray surely do not.
Keep up the good work folks... you are all fantastic.. Bring the issues out to be discussed !!!
17. I believe the red for Republican and blue for Democrat was invented by USA Today after the 2000 election. They had it displayed on the front page and the sea of red was so dramatic it caught the media's attention and the color code stuck.
18. Bill suggests making DC a state. There's a problem with that—it's unconstitutional, and would require a constitutional amendment to allow statehood.
The US Constitution, Article I, Section 8, Clause 17 states (defining the duties of the congress):
To exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases whatsoever, over such District (not exceeding ten Miles square) as may, by Cession of particular States, and the Acceptance of Congress, become the Seat of the Government of the United States, and to exercise like Authority over all Places purchased by the Consent of the Legislature of the State in which the Same shall be, for the Erection of Forts, Magazines, Arsenals, dock-Yards, and other needful Buildings
Which indicates that congress controls the District of Columbia, not a state. (It also has ultimate control over all military bases, which it exerts via military appropriations bills.) Congress did not want the seat of government to be a state or part of one, which is why the District of Columbia was created.
If we are to alter the constitution to provide congressional representation for the district, irt would make more sense to simply reincorporate it into Maryland, and add another congressional representative to Maryland's delegation. DC is less than 1/17th the size of Rhode Island, and is smaller in land area than half a dozen cities; it's far too small to merit statehood.
19. How about we split the entire country in two, liberal states v conservative. Seems it would make even more folks happy that just chopping up King County, or Washington and/or Oregon.
Seriously, the quality of posts on this site leave a lot to be desired. Most of you can't get beyond the adolescent habit of name calling. And to fret about which color your ideology has been assigned is truly amusing.
Despite the assigned colors, conservatives love to gaze upon that the Red/Blue map because is gives them a sense of overwhelming superiority. But in truth, empty land doesn't vote, people do. And the sides are very evenly divided.
The reason why a few counties in Western Washington control the state is because that's where most of the people live. And, that's where most of the tax base lies. I hate to say it, but it's going to be an awful shock to rural counties when they have to fund their own highways and school systems.
20. Unkl Witz Seriously, the quality of posts on this site leave a lot to be desired. Most of you can't get beyond the adolescent habit of name calling. And to fret about which color your ideology has been assigned is truly amusing.
Having a bad hair day? At least you were amused for a little while. So was I.
21. Unkl Witz, we would be just fine. With our "rural" farm ground and small businesses we would be just fine. Hell, we just might prosper with a level-headed government. Your attitude is so very typical of the liberal know-it-all democrat.
22. At first I thought the idea to split off from King County was far-fetched......but now....I'm liking it!
As long as Kent is in the new county....I'm backing it!
23. I say keep the existing state of WA as a whole - same with OR and live with it as best as possible.
However, the major focus should be cutting off King County at the Seattle City Limits and creating Cascade County from the remainder - where people and economic interests have more in common than with Seattle. King County has long been too big for its britches, so confine it to Seattle (metro and king county have already merged - so what could be more natural ?).
Many employees from King County could transfer to Cascade County to minimize duplicity upon the birth of this new county ! Sounds reasonable - however, it will take an initiative to enact this change, so start up the petition !
24. I am definitely against dividing the county.
25. same here
26. Ditto
27. The Convention for choosing which party is represented by RED and BLUE for each election is not new, and it has nothing to do with communism or red-neckedness.
Each election, the color representing the INCUMBENT party switches.
2004 the incumbent party (Rep) was RED.
2000 the incumbent party (Dem) was BLUE.
1996 the incumbent party (Dem) was RED
1992 the incumbent party (Rep) was BLUE.
Etc.