George Will and the election

While this is a good article by Conservative columnist George Will,
Will

I have to say that he is incorrect about the leftward trend of the west. The same argument has been made by Ryan Sager in his new book The Elephant in the Room: Evangelicals, Libertarians, and the Battle to Control the Republican Party.

However, their analysis is flawed, there isn't as much difference between southern Republicans and western ones as Sager and Will make out. While Western red states are more anti-government and a little less religious than the deep south, they are not libertarian in the CATO Institute mold (i.e. pro-gay marriage, pro-choice, illegal immigration). Montana still voted for a ban on gay marriage and the South Dakota legislature signed into law a bill banning abortion except when the life of a mother is in danger.

Furthermore gubernatorial races are only marginally decided by events at the federal level. One of the most "blue" states, Massachusetts hasn't had a Democratic governor since Michael Dukakis in 1991. That hardly means that Massachusetts is trending Republican. It is typically a sign that since the legislature is overwhelmingly Democratic, that Massachusetts voters wanted some balance and in many cases the Republicans have ran some appealing candidates like William Weld and Mitt Romney, while the Democrats have run some lousy candidates.

There is probably a similar explanation for what has happened in the western states. Furthermore some of these western states that have been called red states are in fact purple. Colorado for example was represented in the Senate by two Democrats at one point, one of them being the liberal Gary Hart.

The real problem for Republicans is that they are losing more of the socially liberal, pro-business Republicans who have traditionally occupied places like suburban Connecticut and Pennsylvania. Considering many of these Republicans are wealthy, that may be problematic when it comes to fundraising in the future.