Western Voters Could be Up for Grabs for Obama and McCain
Colorado, Montana, Nevada, and New Mexico are among the battleground states this cycle
Shifting politics. But the Mountain West is clearly in transition. The long Democratic primary season helped the party register new and more enthusiastic voters. And in Montana, there has been an influx of more liberal residents over the past two decades. Most of the arrivals, says Schweitzer, who is expected to cruise to re-election this fall, have been more interested in the economy, environment, energy, and education than in the cultural conservative agenda of opposition to abortion and same-sex marriage that had come to define the state's Republican Party. Dave and Sharon Martin, former residents of California's Silicon Valley who have lived just outside Bozeman for 15 years, say they sense the shift in the state—and not just because of newcomers. "People here are still conservative," says Dave Martin, 65, "but they're fed up with the status quo of government in general." Ron Paul, he noted, finished second to Mitt Romney in the state's GOP caucus, ahead of McCain.
Daniel Kemmis says a "political realignment" has been taking root in the Mountain West for eight years. "If you looked at the political map in 2000, the Rocky Mountain West had become a one-party region," says Kemmis, a senior fellow at the University of Montana's O'Connor Center for the Rocky Mountain West and a former state legislator. There were no Democratic governors in those eight states and only three U.S. senators. Now there are five Democratic governors and five U.S. senators, including both senators from Montana. Still, Kemmis says, "none of the states in the Rockies are a given for Obama, and several of them are a given for McCain."
Montana GOP Executive Director Jake Eaton says he believes Obama's strength in the polls is "afterglow" from the unaccustomed attention the state received during the Democratic primary and will fade by Election Day. But with six regional offices in the state, dozens of paid staff—"and we're still hiring," says Obama's Montana spokesman, Caleb Weaver—it's clear that the expected Democratic nominee isn't simply looking for a symbolic showing. Back at the ranch, McDonald says that the years of Democrats giving up on Montana are over, whether Obama pulls out big western victories in the fall or not. "He's brought so many into the party that this will be a huge benefit to Democrats for years to come."
Reader Comments
oh obama
his got alot of optimism in him and i wonder if thas going go for nothing but i guess his up to something lets just rely on God to make the will work.
Dump McCain!!
John McCain is going to get steamrolled on November 4th by an empty suit (Obama), and there is really nothing that McCain can do to iron out the wrinkles in his own already “empty suit”.
I, being someone who will not "pick flies out of sh*t" in my choice for a presidential candidate, neither McCain nor Obama is qualified for our nations' most important job. McCain will have to choose a real dope for his running mate in order to prevent being overshadowed and having his lack of substance revealed.
The best thing that we can do is NOT nominate him at all and choose Ron Paul instead at the GOP convention in September!! Ron Paul is more than qualified, has a plan that will work and will lead our nation honorably. Ron Paul can raise the money, get people excited and has the best chance of beating Obama of all the other Republican candidates. The GOP would be foolish not to nominate Ron Paul! This will also explain why Ron Paul’s “ Rally for the Republic “ will most definitely overshadow John McCain’s presumptive nomination at the dull Republican National Convention down the street.
It's not too late to admit that McCain is a bad choice and to remedy the situation. If no one is excited about McCain now, they surely won't be two months from now. Get the geezer out now so we won't have a 1996 repeat of Bob Dole! McCain can't win if he doesn't have the support of the conservative base and nothing is going to change that, plain and simple! There will not be a last minute reprieve by disgruntled Republicans this time around to save him when most people are finally rejecting the worn-out lesser of two evils argument. If McCain remains as the nominee until November, he will destroy the Republican Party and run its members out to most likely join the Libertarian or Constitution Party, or simply drop out of the voting process all together. This wouldn't necessarily be a bad scenario as long as these people are not continuing to do the same thing that yields the same bad results. It’s time to “Dump McCain”!!
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