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By Nora Simon Finding a silver lining in Oregon's loss to Stanford didn't take me long: At least Kansas State fell to Baylor on the same day. Otherwise, UO and KSU wouldn't be meeting in the Fiesta Bowl on Jan. 3. It's a matchup I'd hoped for all season, and I'm immensely proud of both teams: I grew up a Wildcat and graduated a Duck. I'm fascinated by both my states' traditions, sports included. Spending my childhood in Manhattan, Kan., and my college years in Eugene, Ore., I've been immersed in two different sports rivalries -- and two different political rivalries.Although the 33rd and 34th states (Oregon entered the union in 1859; Kansas followed in 1861) at times couldn't seem more different socially and politically, I can see some similarities.First are the obvious ones: football and college towns. Nearly every team has an in-state rival, but the Beaver State and the Sunflower State have particularly longstanding, contentious rivalries: the Civil War for UO and OSU (since 1894), and the Sunflower Showdown for KSU and KU (since the early 1900s). Kansas has its liberal-leaning college town, Lawrence, and its conservative-leaning college town, Manhattan. Oregon, of course, has Eugene and Corvallis.Then there's the less-obvious parallel: politics. Kansas might be an easy target for liberal Oregonians because of the ridiculous goings on over abortion, evolution (which led to the creation of the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster by an Oregon State student), women's rights and gay rights. Then again, conservative Kansans might think the same of Oregon for its progressive policies, such as banning plastic bags and not having self-serve gas.Here's the connection. When I look at Kansas, I see a state that's growing more conservative, and when I look at Oregon, I see a state that's growing more liberal. In 2010, Democrats far outnumbered Republicans in Oregon, and the opposite was true in Kansas. In either state, that's not likely to change soon.Several opinion pieces in The Oregonian have spoken to this trend, saying that the Republican Party has lost its influence and relevance in Oregon, particularly in statewide offices. The moderate style of Republicans such as Tom McCall and Mark Hatfield is absent, even though we're constantly reminded of their impact on the state. Biking by Tom McCall Waterfront Park and the Mark O. Hatfield Building in downtown Portland, along with time spent hiking in the Mark O. Hatfield Wilderness near the Columbia River Gorge, I see their legacies constantly.Kansas, too, used to be the home of middle-ground Republicans: Bob Dole, Alf Landon, Dwight D. Eisenhower. Every Kansas elementary school student visits Eisenhower's presidential museum in Abilene, and being the only president from Kansas, he's a kind of state hero.Perhaps my generation remembers Bob Dole better from pop culture than politics, because he appeared in a Pepsi commercial with Britney Spears. Regardless, by that time he had gained national recognition.To illustrate Kansas' shift from the middle, earlier this month U.S. Sens. Pat Roberts and Jerry Moran, R-Kan., rebuffed Dole, who uses a wheelchair, by refusing to vote on a disability rights treaty.In national politics, nothing seems so contentious as the rivalry between a red state and a blue state, but it's more difficult to get things done when party politics is that polarizing. Middle-ground politicians seem more difficult to find -- at least ones who can get elected. Bipartisanship has become a catchphrase, when compromise should be the point of politics.In sports, one rival wins and one rival loses. In politics, that type of competitive domination now seems the norm, but I'm hopeful that ultrapartisan politics won't forever trump the middle ground.People have asked me what side I'm taking when my hometown team faces my college team. With an open mind, I'll be cheering both teams down the middle of the field.Nora Simon is The Oregonian's letters editor.
wait, do they really not have self-serve gas? i'm confused.
