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Tag(s): Alaska; Census; Class; Democratic; Hawaii; History; History; Population; Populism; Regional; (more...) Republican; Sarah Palin (less...)
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September 14, 2008 at 05:26:44

Is Sarah Palin a Westerner?

by Constance Lavender Page 1 of 1 page(s)

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The idea of an oppositional dialectic in United States history, not based on class distinctions or sex differences, appealed to American romantic notions of democracy, equality, and freedom.

In today's NYT (Sunday, September 14, 2008) is a good article by Katherine Roberts, Continental Divide: A Western State of Mind.

The article talks about the "historical divide" between eastern elites and the rugged individualists of the west. The great divide in American history between populism and the establishment.

That idea was most famously advanced by Frederick Jackson Turner (1893) and known as the Frontier thesis.

The idea of an oppositional dialectic in United States history, not based on class distinctions or sex differences, appealed to American romantic notions of democracy, equality, and freedom.

It is useful for the Republican Party to advance such conceptions.

There are many ways of looking at America: cities and rural areas, demographic groups, races and ethnicities, gender, and so forth.

Another way of looking at America is one that is spelled out in Article I Section 2 of the United States Constitution which calls for a counting of the population every ten years in order to apportion representation in the US Congress.

According to the Census Bureau's regional divisions, Alaska is not a western state. Alaska and Hawaii together form the Pacific region, distinct from the bureau's western region.

So we may accurately note that the Democratic presidential nominee, Senator Obama, who was born in Hawaii, and the Republican vice-presidential nominee, Governor Palin of Alaska, are both from the Pacific region of the United States.

It is unclear what that says about Roberts' continental divide, or Turner's frontier thesis, but it is an angle that, if Roberts had addressed, would have strengthened her article.

See:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/14/weekinreview/14roberts.html

and

http://www.census.gov/geo/www/us_regdiv.pdf

SEE ALSO: Today's Polls (Sunday, September 14, 2008) and VOTE on whether Sarah Palin is from the West or the Pacific!

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3 comments

Constance Lavender is an HIV-Positive pseudonymous freelance e-journalist from a little isle off the coast of Jersey; New Jersey, that is...In the Best spirit of Silence Dogood and Benj. Franklin, Ms. Lavender believes that a free country is premised on a free press.
Constance LavenderConstance Lavender is an HIV-Positive pseudonymous freelance e-journalist from a little isle off the coast of Jersey; New Jersey, that is...In the Best spirit of Silence Dogood and Benj. Franklin, Ms. Lavender believes that a free country is premised on a free press.

Historical footnotes about the West:

Jeanette Rankin (1880-1973) of Montana was the first woman elected to the United States House of Representatives. She was elected to Congress in the election of 1916, four years before passage of the Nineteenth Amendment (Suffrage Amendment) to the US Constitution granting women the right to vote. Rankin was a lifelong pacifist who opposed US involvement in both World Wars. She was an opponent of the Veetnam War. Rankin was a Congressional sponsor of the first federal legislation aimed at promoting the health of women and children. She served on the board of the ACLU and supported the work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Jeannette Rankin was a member of the United States Republican Party.

Nellie Tayloe Ross (1876-1977) was the first woman to serve as governor of a US state: Wyoming (1925-1927). As Governor of Wyoming, Ross supported a federal law prohibiting child labor. She was appointed by Franklin Delano Roosevelt as the first female Director of the US Mint in 1933. Nellie Tayloe Ross was a member of the United States Democratic Party.

by Constance Lavender (89 articles, 0 quicklinks, 84 diaries, 214 comments) on Sunday, September 14, 2008 at 6:29:07 AM

Margaret Bassett is an 86-year old, currently living in senior housing, with a lifelong interest in political conumbrums. She hopes to hold out for one more presidential election. Bachelors from State University of Iowa (1944) and Masters from Roosevelt University (1975) help to unravel important requirements for modern communication. Early introduction to computer science (1966) trumps them. It's payback time. She's been "entitled" so long she hopes to find some good coming off the keyboa...

to see more of bio, click on member name
Margaret BassettMargaret Bassett is an 86-year old, currently living in senior housing, with a lifelong interest in political conumbrums. She hopes to hold out for one more presidential election. Bachelors from State University of Iowa (1944) and Masters from Roosevelt University (1975) help to unravel important requirements for modern communication. Early introduction to computer science (1966) trumps them. It's payback time. She's been "entitled" so long she hopes to find some good coming off the keyboa...

to see more of bio, click on member name

The continental divide is important in history

Once railroads hammered their way over Mountain passes, it was easier to relate to the Pacific. I think the Western reaches of the USA were finally accepted. It made the old joke obsolete-- about the New Yorker who got on a fast train at Grand Central and described the trip as crossing the Hudson, seeing a lot of scenery, and then arriving in Hollywood. The joke lost luster after Pearl Harbor.

Several Western Mountain States gave the vote to women while they were still territories. I don't know whether Montana fits the category, but I know Wyoming does. There weren't enough men to fulfill the required quota. And Nellie Tayloe Ross became governor when her husband died while in office.

Sarah Palin was born in Idaho and grew up in an area with sparse population. In that respect she is a Westerner. Of some interest to me is how the current governor of Hawai, a Republican, is the one who promoted Palin's veep slot. Not only she promoted Palin, but two women with substantial assignments on the McCain staff. They have feelers out to succeed Schwartznegger.

by Margaret Bassett (33 articles, 2021 quicklinks, 30 diaries, 1351 comments) on Sunday, September 14, 2008 at 5:44:42 PM