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West Primed for Dems' Taking

Washington's neglect has voters yearning for change, Colo. senator writes

By Nick McMaster, Newser Staff

Posted Aug 18, 2008 3:15 PM CDT

(Newser) – The West has long been a Republican stronghold, but Democrats have a chance there in November, Ken Salazar writes in the Los Angeles Times. Salazar himself beat the Republican establishment to win a Colorado Senate seat in 2004. Independents are now the region’s largest voting bloc, he writes, and communities are frustrated by 7 years of “feeling like an afterthought in Washington's policies.”

Barack Obama should look to the area’s resurgent Democrats who, like Salazar, have found support among those resentful of Washington’s consistent disregard. The rural poor of Colorado, New Mexico, and Nevada want a leader who will “support family farms, lead a renewable-energy renaissance in rural areas, and fight for the middle class”—issues perfectly suited to Obama, Salazar writes.

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In this photo provided by CBS, Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo., appears on CBS's "Face the Nation" in Washington, June 3, 2007. (AP Photo)

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama waves to students and supporters at University of Colorado at Colorado Springs on July 2, 2008. (AP Photo)

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These states are the swing states of 2008. With 19 electoral votes among Nevada, New Mexico and Colorado, the results in Florida and Ohio may not matter on the night of Nov. 4. - Ken Salazar

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West Primed for Dems' Taking