Cubin Defector

A victory by businessman/rancher Mark Gordon (R) in WY-AL's open-seat primary tonight may suggest a new Mountain West trend for House GOPers.

-- First, Gordon's a moderate. He may say he's changed his tune on his past support of the Sierra Club or WH Dems like John Kerry, but his socially libertarian profile (he's against abortion, but says it shouldn't be decided by the gov't) looks more like an Northeastern GOPer than a Western one.

-- For GOPers, maybe that's not a bad thing. The party's been searching for a way to stem the growing Dem tide in the region, and a return to its libertarian roots may be the answer. In addition, his profile as a rancher seems to be a better match against '06 nominee Gary Trauner (D) than ex-Treas. Cynthia Lummis (R), with her years of gov't service, can provide.

-- Either Gordon or Lummis would offer the GOP better odds against Trauner than Barbara Cubin (R) would have. But a Gordon win may tell us that GOPers in the region are ready to go back to their roots.