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Editorial
February program will celebrate town's political traditions
Thursday, December 8, 2016
The late Gov. Frank Morrison once mused that there was something in the water that caused so many residents to seek political office.
Storyteller Garrison Keillor once observed that the nearby Republican River was shallow, winding to and fro, "following the most expedient path."
After the Gazette reported the state budget increased 30 percent (it was actually 3 percent), then ran the correction "on the classified pages, in agate type," Gov. Norbert Tiemann suggested that "if the state of Nebraska needed an enema, I know where to put the hose."
McCook has always had a disproportionate political influence, serving as the launching pad for many political leaders, and has always shown its independence in the process. McCook was the base of operations for politicians such as 1890 populist gubernatorial candidate John H. Powers of nearby Trenton, George W. Norris, Gov. Ralph Brooks, Gov. Frank Morrison and Governor and Sen. Ben Nelson.
Despite being populated mostly by Republicans -- 82 percent of the county's voters chose Trump in 2016 -- McCook sent Democrats Brooks, Morrison and Nelson to the capitals to represent her.
Norris spent most of his Washington years as a Republican, but his independent streak led him to leave the party before losing his U.S. Senate seat in 1942 and returning to his home, now on the main street and across from the park that bear his name.
The community's history will be celebrated with a program, "McCook's Political Tradition -- Telling the Story" at the Keystone Business Center, Feb. 23-24.
It will be presented by the Norris Institute in cooperation with the High Plains Museum, Heritage Square, the Nebraska State Historical Society's Norris House and the Norris Foundation, with support recently announced from Humanities Nebraska and the Nebraska Cultural Endowment.
Local historians and storytellers, Nebraska historian Ronald C. Naugle, history instructor Brian Croft of Western Nebraska Community College and Mike Smith, retired director and CEO of the Nebraska State Historical Society.
McCook Community College Vice President Andy Long will facilitate the program.
Anyone interested in more information, or to participate in the program can contact Cloyd Clark at (308) 345-2452 or Angela Allen at (308) 345-1200.
The Buffalo Commons festival is making McCook an important player in advancing the art of storytelling.
The Norris Institute event can only help to enhance and expand that reputation.