...in which Gary Younge, a correspondent for Britain's Guardian newspaper, looks at the progressive mayor of Salt Lake City:
Anderson, who was re-elected for his second term in 2003, supports gay marriage, opposes the war in Iraq and is a strong environmentalist. He is converting his city's fleet to alternative-fuel vehicles in order to honour his commitment to meet Kyoto's standards on greenhouse emissions by 2012. Two weeks ago he extended benefits to non-married domestic partners of city employees, effectively giving health insurance coverage to gay and cohabiting couples on his payroll. In August, when Bush came to town to bolster support for the Iraq war, Anderson emailed activists calling for "the biggest demonstration this state has ever seen". Two thousand people showed up, making national headlines.
...but (after the jump) he sees him not as an oddity, but as a template for what liberalism could be:
But if Anderson's vision for Salt Lake City is an anomaly in conservative Utah, it fits right into the political geography of America. If coastal liberals decided to drop in rather than fly over once in a while, they might actually learn something. Rather than duck tough issues because of the hostile political environment, progressives here have tried to reframe them in a way that resonates with potential allies. "We don't talk about gay liberation in Utah," says Anderson. "We talk about healthy families and strong communities and say that in the most intimate aspects of our lives the government ought to butt out. You have to stand up even at the risk of losing races - some things are more important than winning a race."
Here is the full article:
Rocky Anderson - Salt Lake City profile