| I really hope that this is all very coincidental and not a sign of things to come. California’s clout in Congress keeps growing. The Golden State is gaining again, this time at the expense of the Great Lakes region of the Midwest. On Thursday, majority Democrats decided to push Michigan’s John D. Dingell out of an important chairmanship in favor of Henry A. Waxman, who represents Beverly Hills. Earlier this week, Rep. Marcy Kaptur of Toledo, Ohio, lost a last-minute bid for the lowest-ranking elected leadership post to Xavier Becerra of Los Angeles, who was the anointed pick of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi , D-Calif.
Earlier this decade, when blogs were just coming into their own, some of my favorite blogs were written by people living on the two coasts. They mostly had the same things in common -- great writing, a savage sense of humor, and an obvious disdain for the central part of the country. A lot of that centered on voting patterns, so I don't know if the derision included Michigan as an intended target or collatoral damage. I do remember oftentimes coming away with a bad taste in my mouth because it seemed an awful lot of repeating the same kinds of parochialism that was at the heart of much of the distaste. I really hope that the loss of leadership positions in Congress by the Great Lakes and Midwest in general is just a reflection that the Democratic Party for the last decade has been strongest on the coasts and that this is where the ideas have percolated and not an expression of parochial politics. On the other hand, after reading this morning's column by Frank Beckman, I can see where people from California and Massachusetts might not wonder if we aren't all a bunch of rubes (then again, we got rid of Ted Nugent while California remains the proud home of Sammy Hagar). |
