The consensus around these parts seems to be that the process Democrats use to select our Presidential nominee is flawed, and fixing it will help us choose a nominee who better represents America - improving our chances of taking back the White House.
Soon the DNC is going to vote on whether to slip two contests (one in the West, one in the Midwest or South) between Iowa and New Hampshire. From what I am hearing - the decision in the West is down to two Southwestern states, Arizona and Nevada.
Chairman of the Arizona Democratic Party, David Waid, wrote this argument (which is published today in Roll Call) describing why Arizona is the best option.
Selecting Arizona is the Democrats' Best Option
Why should Arizona voters help decide the Democratic presidential nominee early in the primary and caucus season? Because its electorate reflects the new face of America, and it's winnable for Democrats in 2008.
More over the jump ...
While Arizona historically has been considered a red state, Arizonans consistently have demonstrated a willingness to vote across party lines if they like and respect a candidate. This was true in 1996, when Arizonans helped return President Bill Clinton to the White House, and again in 2002 when Janet Napolitano was elected governor and Terry Goddard was elected attorney general. Republicans have a registration advantage over Democrats in the state, yet Napolitano and Goddard, the top two state officeholders, enjoy higher approval ratings than the majority of their colleagues in traditionally blue states.
The Arizona electorate is moderate and pragmatic. For example, voters overwhelmingly supported Napolitano's plan to invest the state's $1.2 billion budget surplus in long-term solutions such as education, debt repayment and increased border security, as opposed to a Republican proposal for a short-term tax rebate.
Arizonans' support for practical solutions springs from their traditional, Southwestern values. While Cowboy Country has given way to a modern, burgeoning economy, the family-first frontier tradition still reigns.
Voters know what's best for their families and look for leaders who help them help themselves.
To say Arizona has evolved would be an understatement. What some used to regard as a stop on the road to California has become a major destination in and of itself - so much so that Maricopa County, home to Phoenix, is now the third-largest county in the United States.
But more important than the growth is the diversity that Arizona's growth has yielded. Arizona has become a melting pot in the truest sense. What began hundreds of years ago as a series of American Indian settlements, and what continues today with 22 federally recognized tribes, has grown into a state in which most residents are transplants from other parts of our country and other parts of the world.
More than one-quarter of Arizona's population is of Hispanic origin, and Arizona is projected to become a "minority-majority" state by 2035. The strength of this diversity continues to fuel Arizona's transition to a knowledge-based economy and enrich its culture.
Arizona's diversity goes beyond just its racial and ethnic mix. Women are leaders in Arizona's economy and public life. Not only is Phoenix ranked third in the nation for women-owned businesses per capita, but in 1998 Arizona became the first state to elect women to all of its top-five statewide executive offices. For the past two decades, Arizona has been among the top, and often the first, in the percentage of women legislators.
Arizona has four major military installations, including Maricopa County's Luke Air Force Base, the largest F-16 training base in the world. It also is home to nearly 600,000 military veterans, or about 10 percent of the entire population.
Then-Sen. Dennis DeConcini and then-Gov. Bruce Babbitt were the first Democrats in the modern political era to consistently win statewide elections in Arizona. Much like Napolitano does today, these two Arizona leaders drew bipartisan support by focusing on moderate, common-sense issues and tackling problems important to ordinary Arizonans and their families. In many ways, Arizona's current success is built on the work begun 30 years ago by these two Democratic icons.
The Democratic National Committee has a historic opportunity in 2008. For decades, Iowa and New Hampshire have played critical roles in selecting Democratic presidential nominees, and it is fully appropriate that they continue to do so. But 2008 also provides the chance to include more states, and more of America, in the early stages of the nominating process.
Arizona is uniquely positioned to help the DNC take advantage of this opportunity. As a Mountain time zone state, Arizona potentially can provide caucus results in time for late, East Coast newscasts. More importantly, Arizona offers Democrats a chance to appeal to an electorate that reflects the new face of America, and an electorate that would be willing to vote for a Democratic president in 2008.
Great things are happening for Democrats in Arizona, and Arizona would be thrilled to share them with the rest of the nation.
David Waid is chairman of the Arizona Democratic Party.
So what do you think?