saavedra77 | Out of the Blue (Reply)

Tired of being outvoted by liberal Seattle and its environs in two close presidential elections and the closest governor’s race in U.S. history, some conservative eastern Washington politicians now want to divide the state in two. Advocates of secession insist that it’s not just political "sour grapes," though: the Washington counties east of the Cascades, they say, have a "distinct culture, lifestyle and agriculture-driven economy" from the rainy, liberal coast.

Anecdotally, I encountered similar complaints about the demographic dominance of the Philadelphia metro area over Pennsylvania politics during a recent trip to conservative "Westsylvania." A right-wing talk radio host there complained that Ed Rendell, the state's Democratic governor, only represented Philadelphia (calling him "the governor of Philadelphia"). Underlining his discontent in the most vehement way he knew how, the host claimed that he'd rather cast a ballot for "Satan" than re-elect Rendell.