Coyote Gulch

Sunday, November 26, 2006

Western U.S. purple?
USA Today: "A wave of Democratic blue is splashing the fast-growing Rocky Mountain West, which until recently was so Republican that all eight states in the region went red for President Bush in 2004. Democrats are celebrating their Election Day seizure of a U.S. Senate seat, a governorship, three U.S. House seats and other major offices in Rocky Mountain states. That extends a trend started in 2002 with winning three governor seats. Now, Democrats are hoping to break the Republican lock on the inland West in the 2008 presidential race. The region's results Nov. 7 tracked with Democratic successes in the Northeast and Midwest. The question is whether the Western shifts indicate a fluke, the normal turn of a cycle or a permanent realignment."

Thanks to the Western Democrat for the link.
"2008 pres"
9:19:29 AM

Schweitzer: We can't keep relying on dictators

The Denver Post is running a background article about Brian Schweitzer, Montana's governor. From the article, "And when sorting through the reasons Democrats have taken hold in a conservative state, fingers frequently point first at Democratic Gov. Brian Schweitzer. Midway through his first term, Schweitzer, a relative political newcomer, is a self-described 'pickup-driving, God-fearing, gun-toting, red-meat- eating, take-responsibility-for-my- actions, invest-in-education kind of Democrat.' In a state where cattle outnumber people nearly 3-1, Schweitzer's prairie populist message, gift for storytelling and homespun charm have won him approval ratings upward of 70 percent. His ability to suddenly shift from flattery and enticements to hardball tactics and steely negotiations have led to comparisons to former President Lyndon B. Johnson. It has also led some Republicans to label him a bully, contending Schweitzer uses his popularity to threaten and intimidate freshman GOP lawmakers - or anyone else who stands in his way. 'He's a political gangster,' said state Senate Minority Leader Bob Keenan...

"Two days with him reveal a man obsessed by the challenges his state faces today but intrigued enough about his own future and national politics to spend hours reading blogs or watching simulcasts of Don Imus, the New York radio talk host...

"But what really makes the 52-year-old Schweitzer tick is energy independence and the jobs it can bring to Montana. The cattle rancher and mint farmer received a master's degree in soil science and spent seven years in Saudi Arabia developing crop irrigation systems. 'We have to be self-reliant. We can't keep relying on dictators,' he said. His Volkswagen Jetta runs on biodiesel; small windmills sit on his window sills, and tubular devices that among other things turn sunlight into hydrogen are scattered across his desk...

"Later, he downplays talk that he might run for the U.S. Senate in two years - 'don't hold your breath' - and says he finds the bloggers' trying to recruit him to run for president entertaining. For now, his main concern is bringing jobs and infrastructure to Montana, and he has a warning for other governors. 'If you ever see me getting off a plane in your city, know that I'm there to steal jobs,' he says."
"2008 pres"
8:47:29 AM

Here's a short article about the origins of the Grand Canyon from the Arizona Republic. They write, "Clarence Dutton, whose magnificent Tertiary Geology of the Grand Canyon District the University of Arizona Press reprinted in 2001, took the next logical step. If streams have been carving up the land for all of geologic time with the power that the Grand Canyon reveals, why are any high places left? Dutton realized that some mysterious force must lift the Earth's surface, starting the process of erosion anew. Today, we know that force to be plate tectonics, the heat-driven movement of giant, thin slabs of the Earth's surface that collide, split apart, or slide past each other. Plate collision left the mile-high Colorado Plateau with the snow-capped Rockies on one side and the low-lying Mojave Desert on the other. That arrangement afforded the Colorado River both a permanent supply of water and the steepest gradient of any major river on the continent, turning it into a buzz saw of erosion. What caused the Grand Canyon? Geologists continue to work out the details, but the ultimate answer is plate tectonics. From the Grand Canyon-inspired discoveries of Newberry, Powell and Dutton, a genealogy leads directly to the modern theories of geology."
"colorado water"
8:29:32 AM

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