Demo seeks national post

Being from 'red' county and state may work in her favor, she says

By Sharon Haddock
Deseret Morning News
Published: Thursday, Jan. 20, 2005 12:23 p.m. MST
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PROVO — A woman from one of the most conservative counties in the United States — and the reddest of the red states — says she believes she can make a difference at the national level for the Democratic Party if given a chance.

Nancy Jane Woodside, an ardent Democrat and best known to many as the Utah County woman who ran against Rep. Chris Cannon, R-Utah, in 2002 for the 3rd District House seat, wants to become one of five national vice chairmen for the Democratic Party.

Woodside, who is currently a vice chairwoman for the Utah County Democratic Party, believes coming from such a conservative county could work in her favor. She said Utah and other western states are being ignored by those in the party who run national election campaigns. She said the party needs to begin working at the grass-roots level if it wants to effect an attitude change among the U.S. electorate.

At least one political observer agrees, with Woodside's view, but doubts her quest will be successful.

Brigham Young University political science professor Quinn Monson said Woodside is right in saying that Democrats need to reach out to moderates in Republican-dominated states.

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"Having someone from a red state like Utah represented in the leadership of the Democratic National Committee would be a step in the right direction, no pun intended, for the Democratic Party in terms of sending signals to moderate voters that they (the Democrats) may have lost to the Republicans," Monson said. "That being said, I don't think the likelihood of it going anywhere is very high, because the national party has to satisfy a lot of different factions that clamor for attention, and representation from places like Utah hasn't traditionally been very high on their list."

That needs to change, Woodside said on Tuesday during a conference call with the media.

"We want a seat at the table for Utah," she said. "We have to have some representation."

Woodside said the results of the recent national election show clearly that focusing on a small number of states has proven to be an unsuccessful strategy for the Democratic Party.

"The presidential race was won (by the Republican Party) because people went to work in the smallest areas. They did the grass-roots work," she said.

She said the party's vice chairmen must be empowered and then must work to change a status quo that excludes Utah and other states designated as "red states."

Woodside believes the vice chairmen of the past — often sitting members of Congress — have not been granted much say in the party operations and decisions.

"I want to be assigned a region and I would like that to be the Intermountain West," she said.

Woodside is supporting Howard Dean to become the party's national chairman because he also believes in grass-roots activation and supports local candidacy.

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Nancy Jane Woodside
Nancy Jane Woodside