As a lifelong resident of Washington state, I can tell you that this is God’s country. Where else in the country can you find the diversity of almost everything you find in the northwest corner of the lower 48. The climate in our state varies from rain forest on the peninsula to desert on the east side. The Pacific Ocean on the coast and the Cascade Mountains a hundred miles inland. High tech and manufacturing on the west side and farming and ranching on the east side. Big cities with high population and traffic congestion on the west side and wide-open range with small town USA stretching from north to south to the east. The contrasts that exist in our state can be breathtaking. Breathtaking in one way in particular; the concentration of power not just on the west side, in the greater Seattle/King County area.
As the high tech and manufacturing companies have boomed in King County, the population has exploded accordingly. From an economic standpoint the region is thriving but along with the boon come the trickle-down impacts that aren’t always kind to all socio-economic segments of the population. Property values and rents have sky-rocketed as the demand outpaced the addition of new housing options. For the new tech workers, it established a new norm. For the lower income base, it created a crisis in housing. Poorer people were either forced to move further out to the suburbs or they became homeless, living in tents and cardboard boxes throughout the urban landscape.
If you look at the state from the legislative standpoint the level of diversity is evident. Corresponding to the growth of high tech in the Puget Sound region, the way voters have selected their representatives has changed dramatically. Almost all of the central Puget Sound area now sends Democrats to the legislature where there previously was a balance. The net result is that the makeup of the legislature is dominated by Democrats and by extension, they control the agenda and the focus of state resources.
Parts of the state feel helpless as King County Democrats determine their fate. They have representatives in the legislature, but their influence is marginalized by their chronic minority status. As much as they appeal for a voice and a fair share, they are reminded that there are consequences of elections.
From a political point of view, the state of Washington is less diverse than we have ever been for many decades. For the residents of the suburban counties and rural counties there is little chance to have a meaningful voice because the population and concentration of Democrats in the urban counties is so dominant. One county has so many Democrat votes it controls the whole state. That’s the reality in Washington state today.
This scenario is played out is other states as well. As the population centers have grown, their political power has increased proportionally to the point where the states of Oregon and California to our south are also dominated by Democrats in limited geographic concentrations. The balance of power has sharply shifted to the left because of the concentration of Democrat voters in the urban areas.
The conclusion I came to is that concentrating all the power in one location isn’t healthy for our whole state as it isn’t for our neighbors either.
Now, when you think about why our founding fathers adopted the Electoral College to elect our president you will see that in order to equalize the states with much higher populations with the smaller states with fewer residents the big states were only granted so many electors based upon their representation in Congress. The founders knew that New York could determine the fate of the country because of their population disparity with their smaller neighbors if only the popular vote was used. The founders knew that in order that every state could participate in the presidential election process, they needed to shift influence to smaller states by guaranteeing that their votes counted.
The founders recognized that the nation needed the benefits of both the rural and urban economies but if the power was only allocated by population, the control would accrue in the urban.
If the presidential election process abandons the Electoral College, the voters in five or six cities will have enough votes to call all of the shots and our votes will matter as much as those in Okanogan County in our state legislature.
No Loss for Words
Arguments FOR Diversity and The Electoral College
by Steve DanaAs a lifelong resident of Washington state, I can tell you that this is God’s country. Where else in the country can you find the diversity of almost everything you find in the northwest corner of the lower 48. The climate in our state varies from rain forest on the peninsula to desert on the east side. The Pacific Ocean on the coast and the Cascade Mountains a hundred miles inland. High tech and manufacturing on the west side and farming and ranching on the east side. Big cities with high population and traffic congestion on the west side and wide-open range with small town USA stretching from north to south to the east. The contrasts that exist in our state can be breathtaking. Breathtaking in one way in particular; the concentration of power not just on the west side, in the greater Seattle/King County area.
As the high tech and manufacturing companies have boomed in King County, the population has exploded accordingly. From an economic standpoint the region is thriving but along with the boon come the trickle-down impacts that aren’t always kind to all socio-economic segments of the population. Property values and rents have sky-rocketed as the demand outpaced the addition of new housing options. For the new tech workers, it established a new norm. For the lower income base, it created a crisis in housing. Poorer people were either forced to move further out to the suburbs or they became homeless, living in tents and cardboard boxes throughout the urban landscape.
If you look at the state from the legislative standpoint the level of diversity is evident. Corresponding to the growth of high tech in the Puget Sound region, the way voters have selected their representatives has changed dramatically. Almost all of the central Puget Sound area now sends Democrats to the legislature where there previously was a balance. The net result is that the makeup of the legislature is dominated by Democrats and by extension, they control the agenda and the focus of state resources.
Parts of the state feel helpless as King County Democrats determine their fate. They have representatives in the legislature, but their influence is marginalized by their chronic minority status. As much as they appeal for a voice and a fair share, they are reminded that there are consequences of elections.
From a political point of view, the state of Washington is less diverse than we have ever been for many decades. For the residents of the suburban counties and rural counties there is little chance to have a meaningful voice because the population and concentration of Democrats in the urban counties is so dominant. One county has so many Democrat votes it controls the whole state. That’s the reality in Washington state today.
This scenario is played out is other states as well. As the population centers have grown, their political power has increased proportionally to the point where the states of Oregon and California to our south are also dominated by Democrats in limited geographic concentrations. The balance of power has sharply shifted to the left because of the concentration of Democrat voters in the urban areas.
The conclusion I came to is that concentrating all the power in one location isn’t healthy for our whole state as it isn’t for our neighbors either.
Now, when you think about why our founding fathers adopted the Electoral College to elect our president you will see that in order to equalize the states with much higher populations with the smaller states with fewer residents the big states were only granted so many electors based upon their representation in Congress. The founders knew that New York could determine the fate of the country because of their population disparity with their smaller neighbors if only the popular vote was used. The founders knew that in order that every state could participate in the presidential election process, they needed to shift influence to smaller states by guaranteeing that their votes counted.
The founders recognized that the nation needed the benefits of both the rural and urban economies but if the power was only allocated by population, the control would accrue in the urban.
If the presidential election process abandons the Electoral College, the voters in five or six cities will have enough votes to call all of the shots and our votes will matter as much as those in Okanogan County in our state legislature.
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