David Gregory Wonders Is West Turning Blue, Discovers Democrats Say Yes

Photo of Geoffrey Dickens.

NBC's David Gregory, on the Tuesday "Today" show, wondered if the West was trending Democratic and to find out he asked only Democrats. Analyzing the GOP's '08 Electoral College prospects in the West, Gregory refused to interview any Republicans, instead choosing to interview Democrats as he proclaimed: "Concern for the environment, the partisan fights of Washington and this President's war in Iraq have left many Westerners bitter."

While Gregory did find one voter who expressed some skepticism about Hillary Clinton, NBC's White House correspondent devoted the rest of the segment to Democrats including former Congressman Pat Williams who took the following shot at the President:

Former Rep. Pat Williams: "We think that cowboys don't swagger and cowboys don't pick fights they can't win. So we don't think, despite his acting role, Bush is a real cowboy."

The following is the full segment as it occurred on the October 9, "Today" show:

Meredith Vieira: "This morning on Today On the Trail, go west young candidate, go west. In recent presidential elections the West has been full of red states but now as NBC's chief White House correspondent David Gregory has found the Rockies may be turning blue. David, good morning to you."

[On screen headline: "Today On the Trail: How the West Will Be Won."]

David Gregory: "Good morning, Meredith, it is true, potentially for the Democratic Party. For now the Democratic candidates have their eyes on the early voting states, Iowa and New Hampshire among them. But in 2008 the Democratic Party is, indeed, looking west for political gold."

Eddie Coachman: "Pretty important to protect streams like this in the future."

Gregory: "Eddie Coachman lives and fishes in Bush country, Colorado, a state the President carried twice. But Coachman who's angry oil and gas exploration has invaded this landscape says he is a Republican no more."

Coachman: "Wildlife is under siege in Colorado, big time. I thought the Republican Party was out of sync, I still do."

Gregory: "Concern for the environment, the partisan fights of Washington and this President's war in Iraq have left many Westerners bitter."

Former Rep. Pat Williams: "We think that cowboys don't swagger and cowboys don't pick fights they can't win. So we don't think, despite his acting role, Bush is a real cowboy."

Gregory: "From Montana, down the spine of the Rocky Mountains, Democrats like former Montana congressman Pat Williams say their party has seized on the mood to create momentum, aided by migration from the West Coast including an influx of Hispanics. The governors of Montana, Arizona, New Mexico and Colorado are now Democrats, moderates like Bill Ritter who said Coloradans grew tired of the GOP's on emphasis on guns, gays and abortion."

Gov. Bill Ritter: "I mean if you want to find the culture wars they, they will be fought but they will, I think, undermine our chances to tackle those things that matter most to people."

Gregory: "Nowhere is the growing strength of the Democratic Party in the West more visible than here in Denver, where in less than a year the party will hold its national convention. Look at the electoral map. If Democrats can win four states President Bush carried in 2004, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona and Nevada, the nominee would capture 29 electoral votes. That would mean he or she could afford to lose one of the usual 'must-win' states like Ohio. But can Democrats close the sale? It won't be easy, say observers who argue western Democrats are more moderate and pragmatic than the top three contenders for the White House. Senator Clinton, above all, with high negative ratings, may be the toughest sell, particularly to independent voters like Donna Howe, a mother of two who has questions for her after President Clinton's White House affair."

Donna Howe: "Did she stay with him so she could be where she is now? 'Cause if she did then that might backfire on her, with some women like me, who feel that she should probably [have] left."

Gregory: "Still Democrats see the West in a new light this year, hoping to turn a Republican stronghold into a battlefield. Indeed the region is open to change. Consider this, in Colorado Meredith, one-third of the voters are independents and if you think about the '06 midterm election a lot of those independents broke for the Democratic Party, that's what that party is counting on for 2008 as well."

Vieira: "Alright David Gregory, thanks very much."

—Geoffrey Dickens is the senior news analyst at the Media Research Center.


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I think the middle graph explains it well

I truly wish I had a word besides "pathetic," because (despite many ideas I consider quite-positive) I've been told I'm too "negative." But I like telling the truth around these parts no matter how butt-ugly it is, and "pathetic" is the only word that fits the graph. Sorry to have to be "negative" again, but that's the pathetic truth as I see it.

Shockingly-enough, people out west would prefer smaller government, and that meant they wanted promises of less-not-more spending to be true, instead of pathetic lies. I may live in the eastern United States, but I happen to know the feeling quite well...
JMR

Rally online with fans of Dr. Ron Paul.

Breaking...

NBC's David Gregory asks pot smokers if marijuana should be legalized. Shocked to find out the majority say "Hell Yes!."

"There are two types of people in this country; those who provide freedom and those who enjoy it." MM says...

Is this The Onion?

I can no longer tell the difference between media parodies on the Onion News from the (supposedly) real life silliness on the mainstream media.

He asked Democrats if the West states are turning Democrat? I don't know which is more ridiculous, the original report, or the producer who thought this wasn't over-the-top bias.

so how do you explain

The (apparently cloaked, but it's above) pathetic graph I just posted? People out west are annoyed at Republicans for a reason, and Republicans won't get too-far with the idea that they owe us their votes on the basis of alleged fiscal responsibility. That used to be one of the pillars of Republican support, too. I see plenty of "pathetic" in this story, but sadly, I don't see ANY bias at all...
JMR

Rally online with fans of Dr. Ron Paul.

We need new Republicans...

"There are two types of people in this country; those who provide freedom and those who enjoy it." MM says...

Amen.

On that we agree 100%.
JMR

Rally online with fans of Dr. Ron Paul.

You see no bias?

Whether or not the west is rejecting the GOP is beside the point. The point is that Gregory only asked a Democrat if it was true. You don't think that's biased?

No, for me, the "pathetic" overwhelms the media bias angle...

Yes, I'm sure David could have picked a western Republican who is fiscally-disgusted, but that would seem redundant to most viewers after talking to the Democrat -- even though he'd probably be easier to find than a western RINO who's actually all that happy this time. (Or David probably wouldn't want the fiscal disgust issue to be discussed.) But to me the story's about a party blatantly abandoning its fiscal principles and then being soundly-rejected in 2006 (and possibly beyond...) because of it.

Besides, how often does any "mainstream" media network ask independents who aren't either Democrats or Republicans about these issues? Not very, if my past experience is any guide, but I guess I'm used to not-being-consulted on these issues and it's less of a big deal to me than the underlying lying at the root of the spending-addiction problem...
JMR

Rally online with fans of Dr. Ron Paul.

Look, I agree with you about the spending

Hey, sarcasmo, if you're complaining about spending, I agree with you. However, there's more going on here.

Put yourself in the producer's chair. Of all the things American needs to know, Gregory comes up with a report that claims the west is rejecting the GOP. Your first question is, what evidence does he have? Answer: anecdotes from Democrats. Me, I would have said, come back when you have something solid. If you were the producer, what would you have done? Well, look at what you actually did ... your first instinct was to offer proof, like those charts. What did this producer do? He/she ran with mere anecdotes. That's bias. I'm not denying the conclusion, but the argument is slanted.

  • The best example is a Democrat governor claiming that westerners are "tired" of arguing over cultural issues ... but what else do you expect a Democrat politician to say? The reality is that the Democrats get slammed whenever those issues are discussed. Of course they want to steer the conversation elsewhere, and Gregory is glad to help. That's bias.

Let me ask the questions a different way, and tell me if I'm being slanted. Instead of Democrats, let's ask Republicans. How do you think they would respond to these questions?

  • "You say you're upset at the partisan wrangling in Washington. Do you see any less partisanship with Democrats in charge?"
  • "You say you're upset at the spending in Washington. Do you see any less with Democrats in charge? How about that $5,000 bond coming out for every child born?"

... etc. You get the picture. I admit that my version would be biased. Let's wait to hear Gregory admit the same ...

 

I see your point. You're right.

Well said. And I'll assume everyone knows my answers to your questions. :)

Today's big scandal is actually more than just spending, for me. Bailouts and monetary policy effect a sly wealth transfer from the middle-class & poor to the wealthy of Wall Street (people with jobs like Chelsea Clinton's, for example, but she's far from the only one!) in an unfair way. I tend to get obsessed with that, sometimes, but you're right: Gregory should have interviewed more & more-independent subjects.

I just don't trust him to ask the right questions, even if he did, so it's no shock he went to a Democrat. With as few interviews as he was likely to do for this story, IMO the ideal interviewees would have been multiple local talk radio hosts (regardless of their personal politics) perhaps combined with a look at various letters to the editor in the area.
JMR

Rally online with fans of Dr. Ron Paul.

On the other hand ...

You have a point with which I agree. How do you send a message to a political party without removing them from power? I want the GOP to stop spending like pigs, but I don't want to throw them out and put Democrats in. Then the sty will get worse.

I dislike the two-party system for a number of reasons, and this is one of them. People get elected for any number of reasons, and a single vote can't isolate any one cause, therefore the electorate can't send a message.

  • You know that the constitution never mentioned parties, and although parties developed almost immediately, the constitution wasn't designed for them.
  • The constitution was written with the expectation that each representative would vote primarily for local interests. Parties, however, defeat that expectation. These days, a local politician is controlled as much by the party than the local constiutuency, which means that voters wind selecting a party more than an individual.

Of course, there's no chance of that changing anytime soon. Until there's a general appetite for change, and some way to break the stranglehold that the two existing parties have on our system, we just have to do the best we can.

  I have 3 brothers, one

 

I have 3 brothers, one lives in Atlanta, one in Denver and the other in LA and we are all right wing. I can tell you that Denver and LA aren't as liberal as David Gregory would like us to believe.

PHONY COWBOY

Is former Rep P Williams(D) calling Pres Bush a "PHONY COWBOY"??

Great screen cap - he looks

Great screen cap - he looks a bit like a chimpanzee

Boy is this a great day! 

Boy is this a great day!  I just employed the David Gregory school of logic tactic of asking questions of those who you are 100% sure will answer them the way you want.

So I asked myself "do you deserve a raise?" I emphatically said YES! My pay should be at least double what it is right now!"

I can't wait to open Friday's check...

Can this guy really be this dumb?   <asked rhetorically>  

The early bird gets the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.  ~ Unknown

Nothing like a one sided

Nothing like a one sided conversation to convince ones self that you are right. The media is getting just like the hollywood set. If all you talk to is left wing nuts, and your a left wing nut, you see the world as left wing nuts. Never speak to someone that disagrees, it throws you off balance.

Save a SeAL, club a liberal!!

The west is turning

The west is turning blue...

Slowly but surely...and it has been a very hard thing to live with and watch.

Take too long to post today, I have in the past about all of this agenda but that is exactly what it has been, it took years and years but it has and is being done with so many people moving out from Ca. and the east coast that are liberals and know best (lawsuits and jobs gone... regular red staters move out of towns when they put businesses out of business), while they move right out of the environments they slowly created themselves with their owns stupid voting record...they bring in and are backed with tons of big $$$$ and msm, certain msm takes over little by little in area's....they have never been able to see the forest for the trees.

But they know better than the rest of us.

Concur with the "West is

Concur with the "West is turning Blue" comment.

Here in Arizona we have way tooooo many idiots fleeing the high taxes and out of control governments of California and Minnesota who see Arizona as an affordable paradise where freedom allows them to do what they wish.

Then inexplicably the first theing they try to do is make Arizona into what they fled.  Californians wish us to set up all sorts of bogus social programs for everyone so they do not feel uncomfortable.

And the Minnesotans all start planting grass and digging great big holes in the ground to fill with our precious ground water so they will feel like they are back home in the land of 10,000 lakes.

Let us just say that the greater Phoenix area is a right-off now.  The rest of the state is not so bad, but is getting there.