Progressive politics in old-time Arizona


As a history adventurer, and time-traveler, I'm well aware that Arizona was known for its attitude of progressive politics. Its biggest bank for over 100 years pushed that agenda, and even had the slogan "Progressing with Arizona" on its logo for many years. I myself politically am a progressive, but you don't hear much about us, and I'll try to explain.

Of course nowadays usually you only hear of "conservatives" and "liberals". Conservatives tend to be people with wealth, who want to hang on to it, not see it wasted on taxes, that sort of thing. Liberals, on the other hand, tend to embrace the idea of government taxing and spending. And so explaining a Progressive means that you have to mix a little bit of both.



Progressives want change, embrace it, and encourage it. An example of an Arizona Progressive was Dwight Heard, who ran the a newspaper that he called the "Arizona Republican" (later shortened to the Arizona Republic), and helped to get the support of Theodore Roosevelt to get the Federal Government to build a huge dam in Arizona, in 1911. Roosevelt was a Republican, too, and he did the kind of things associated with Progressives, he changed things, including establishing National Parks. The "way things have always been" didn't appeal to Heard, or Roosevelt.

Speaking for myself, I'll always be a Progressive. I get a big kick out of seeing a construction site, I've always followed the progress of the design and construction of freeways in the Phoenix area. When an old empty lot has a fence put up around it, and construction equipment inside, I stop and look. When new buildings open I try to be the first person to visit them. I can remember a time when you had to drive for miles to get to a post office from my neighborhood here in Glendale, and I was very pleased when they built one right nearby me, just for me. They built an Applebees, too!

But there's a price to be paid for progress, sometimes literally. Progressives invest, conservatives turn away, and liberals expect someone else to pay. I'm proud to be progressing with Arizona, and I hope to continue to do it for a very long time.

If you're a Progressive, please let me know!
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