Political Sunday: Tea Leaves up the Skagit

I took advantage of the rare break in the wet weather on Friday and headed out to do some field work up the Skagit. My venture took me past political message enthusiast east of Concrete.

 

 I will be curious how the swamp draining will be perceived over the next couple of years or so. I have a sense that this sentiment may be misinterpreted. I don't think it is entirely directed at perceived corruption, but is also directed at government in general.

This concept is a bit backed up by "LOCK THEM UP" and the classic "don't tread on me" (Gadsen)flag.

Digesting this past presidential election can lead to some erroneous views by broad generalizations. My political experience has been concentrated at a local level - county and city. The views expressed along Highway 20 above are nearly lost in the political leanings of Washington State, but I might be able to project a bit about what these views mean at a local, Skagit County level. At that level they may have some influence, and perhaps even more meaning.

One take-away I have about presidential politics is that it has become very localized. What voters in California, Texas, New York, Alabama and Washington as well as the vast majority of states think almost does not matter. The presidential political struggles both in the general election and in the primaries is focused on small localized slivers of populations in "battle ground" states. Small swings of a small subset in those states drives political positioning. It is a bit maddening that large swaths of the country are rendered politically irrelevant and national interests are driven by small subsets of our nation.