State too liberal to be moderate

Published 3:20 pm Friday, June 19, 2009

Your June 11 editorial, “A state of raging moderates,” confuses history with current events. I would agree that Washingtonians used to be moderate. They elected Dan Evans, Scoop Jackson and Slade Gorton. As you point out, they voted for Reagan. But that was a long time ago.

We haven’t had a Republican governor for a quarter century. Our governor and senators are Democrats. Both houses of the Legislature are controlled by Democrats. How many McCain bumper stickers did you see in Western Washington during the election season last year? Instead, I saw many “War is Terrorism” bumper stickers. Do these “moderates” think that the United States committed terrorism when we declared war on Japan after Pearl Harbor?

Washington is a liberal state, becoming more so all the time. Yes, we voted for Reagan. But that was 25 years ago. That is history, not to be confused with present reality.

Hal Field

Brier