Midway through 2004 I talked about the importance of having a two party system in Utah specifically. The Deseret News now writes a story quoting Harry Reid saying the same thing on a national level. Senator Reid put it perfectly in saying, “Legislation is the art of compromise, and a strong two-party system is fundamental to our democracy.”
I was focused on Utah and I proved to be correct as Utah voted more overwhelmingly Republican than any other state in November. Only Washington D.C. was more partisan in their voting – 89% democratic. Now, even though I am no longer a resident of Utah, I still hope that the political landscape of the state can become more balanced so that real meaningful political discussion can take place. I would bet that if a study were done we would find a strong negative correlation between those states that have lively political debate and those states that have lively social problems.
