Today's must read comes from Campaigns & Elections' David Mark, writing on the Washington Examiner page that I edit. He lays out the case that the best area for Democratic growth in coming election cycles is in typically-red West.
He sites Democratic wins in states like Montana and Wyoming (goverorships) and Colordado (Senate) as being worthy more than passing note.
In an ironic twist, Democrats can run as quasi-libertarians, arguing that people in their region just want to be left alone from meddlesome government bureaucrats. Out West, many more people are pro-choice on abortion than in the South. And Western Democrats regularly push to curb federal mandates, such as the test-heavy No Child Left Behind law.
He adds:
To be sure, Democrats have a long way to go in translating victories for governor, Senate and state legislature into Electoral College gains for their presidential candidates. Wyoming gave Bush 68.9 percent of its vote last year, Idaho 68.4 percent and Utah a chart-topping 71.5 percent. These states are not worth Democrats' time, energy and valuable resources. But Montana (where Bush won with 58 percent), Colorado (where he garnered 52 percent), Arizona (where he earned 55 percent) and New Mexico (where he edged out Kerry 50 percent to 49 percent) are all, to varying degrees, viable Democratic pickup targets.
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