Everyone knows that the West is a land of free spirits, full of cowboys and cowboy wannabess, where the national anthem is "Don't Fence Me In," and nobody wants no big government mucking around, no way, no how.
Only, not so much.
In fact, when it comes to levels of support for spending on domestic government programs, there is very little difference between the regions, as one can tell from just a cursory glance at the following table, based on combined measure of suport for eight domestic spending items tracked by the General Social Survey:
Domestic Spending Preferences By Region
Northeast
Midwest
South
West
MUCH TOO LITTLE 5-8 Items Net
20.8
19.6
20.4
20.7
TOO LITTLE 1-4 Items Net
56.8
54.6
53.2
54.6
ABOUT RIGHT Net
8.9
9.7
10.1
8.8
TOO MUCH 1-8 Items Net
13.5
16.1
16.3
16.0
Now, you might object that the "West" jams together California with all its coastal elites alongside the "true Westerners" from states like Idaho, Montana and Nevada. So here's a breakdown of the West into its two sub-regions:
Domestic Spending Preferences Within The West
MOUNTAIN
PACIFIC
MUCH TOO LITTLE 5-8 Items Net
18.4
21.7
TOO LITTLE 1-4 Items Net
55.8
54.0
ABOUT RIGHT Net
8.7
8.8
TOO MUCH 1-8 Items Net
17.1
15.5
As you can see, there's a slight difference between the two, but the big picture story is exactly the same: there is much more support for spending more than for spending less.
Now, I'm not for a moment suggesting that there's nothing at all behind the perception of a libertarian West. But I am suggesting that it's a good deal more complicated than your average would-be pundit supposes. And these figures offer indisputable proof.
This matters for a very significant reason: As the GOP shows signs of fracturing during this primary season, Mike Huckabee is the figure touting a form of economic populism that naturally encompasses more government spending. But he comes from a religious context that is much more deeply rooted in the South, and for that reason alone, he has distinctly less resonance in the West. Yet, these figures stongly indicate that if enough different factors combine to energize economic populism generally, there is as much potential for a shakeup in the West as there is anywhere else. And this becomes important because of Tom Schaller's thesis in Whistling Past Dixie: How Democrats Can Win Without the South.
Before saying anything more, though, let's take a quick peek at conservatives alone, just to make sure that they don't have any geographic peculiarities. Well do that right after the jump.
As can be seen in the chart just below, when it comes to domestic spending preferences, there is little in the way of regional differences among conservatives as well:
Domestic Spending Preferences Of Conservatives By Region
Northeast
Midwest
South
West
MUCH TOO LITTLE 5-8 Items Net
12.7
13.4
14.5
12.6
TOO LITTLE 1-4 Items Net
52.9
51.8
50.7
52.9
ABOUT RIGHT Net
12.2
10.7
11.1
9.7
TOO MUCH 1-8 Items Net
22.3
24.2
23.8
24.8
Again, we check the Mountain West in contrast to the Pacific Coast, and find only a superficially noticable differnce on the top line (more spending for 5-8 items), but no significant difference overall: there are still more conservatives who favor spending more (with numbers in the 60s) compared to those who favor spending less (with numbers in the 20s).
Domestic Spending Preferences Among Conservatives Within The West
MOUNTAIN
PACIFIC
MUCH TOO LITTLE 5-8 Items Net
9.8
13.9
TOO LITTLE 1-4 Items Net
53.1
52.8
ABOUT RIGHT Net
10.9
9.2
TOO MUCH 1-8 Items Net
26.2
24.1
Discussion
What I take all the above to mean is that support for domestic spending that Huckabee expresses from a conservative point of view has other sources of support among conservatives apart from his religious background. The further conclusion is that there are potentially ways to appeal to conservatives on spending issues that may not require negotiating with aspects of his cultural background that would compromise core Democratic values and/or harm core Democratic constituencies. This is a restatement of Shaller's key argument: Democrats should not try to build their national campaigns and overall political strategy around appealing to our political adversaries. Appealing as it may be to have Huckabee exposing contradictions that have long simmered in the heart of Southern conservative red America, this is not necessarily where we should focus our attention, and it should not be the template that we force everything else into.
Rather, as Schaller argues in Whistling Past Dixie, there are culturally and geographically specific facts that argue for a diversified approach to developing winning policies throughout the West. When it comes to spending issues in general, the broad point should be made that we should look for opportunities that can become signature issues. Some examples include:
(1) Rural broadband access as a 21st Century follow-on to rural electrification.
(2) Aggressive federal/state/local cooperation in fighting the specific impacts of global warming, starting with a major initiative against wildfire dangers-since it is something that dramatically affects large areas across the entire West.
(3) A sustained investment policy in a wide-ranging plan for alternative energy and energy conservation.
The point in all such programs is that people in the American West face outsized problems that they cannot possibly solve on their own. This fundamental fact is psychologically difficult for anyone to face, but is especially difficult because of significant elements of Western culture and psychology. However, the entire effort can be framed in terms of an action partnership, in which the primary focus is on the action potential, and this can create the possibility for a long-term transformation in basic attitudes, which can be accomplished with none of deep cultural conflicts that would be inherent in trying to accomodate the socially conservative aspects of Huckabee's base.
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