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West wants more political
power
Early primaries touted as a way to
influence presidential politics
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Some
political strategists in the West are trying to fiugre
out how to increase the region influence in Washington,
particularly on issues such as transportation, water and
energy.
Preston Utley/Daily
file photo
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Bob Berwyn
April 17,
2006
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COLORADO SPRINGS - While the Rocky
Mountain region may be blessed with abundant natural resources,
robust landscapes and endless recreational opportunities, the area
is under-endowed when it comes to political influence at the
national level.
It's fly-over country, especially for
presidential candidates who spend little time and even less money in
the region, said Chris Jackson, a student researcher at Colorado
College.
Jackson's charts clearly showed that the eight-state
region including Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, New Mexico, Nevada,
Montana, Arizona and Idaho doesn't rate when it comes to campaign
stops and campaign spending. Political activists have suggested that
could be changed with early regional primaries or caucuses, and with
more bipartisan cooperation among the region's congressional
delegations.
"Right now we're being ignored. Even the major
TV networks don't include us in their schedule," said Democratic
State Rep. Gary Lindstrom, whose district includes Summit and Eagle
counties. "I've always thought that the powers that be in the East
have done their best to stop the movement (toward more influence by
other regions).
"Iowa and New Hampshire are a pain ... to
national parties on both sides, expensive and hard to control,"
Lindstrom said.
But a push toward
earlier primaries in the Rocky Mountain region could lead to a kind
of "arms race," with different parts of the country vying to host
the earliest contests, said Ron Bristol, chair of Summit County's
Republican party.
And Summit County Commissioner Tom Long is
not so sure the region is not well represented.
"What have we
lost, what hasn't got done in the Rockies?' he said. Still, Long
said, there are some common issues that deserve bipartisan
attention, including transportation, water and energy.
Those
issues could form a basis for a more unified political voice, said
Dan Kemmis, a former mayor of Missoula, Mont., and senior fellow at
the Center for the Rocky Mountain West at the University of
Montana.
Kemmis said he has observed a rapidly maturing sense
of regional identity, spurred in part by home-grown writers who have
tried to dispel some of the mythology of the West and replace it
with honest self-examination.
That mythology is an important
part of the nation's heritage, but it's time for the West to move
beyond the legends and recognize itself for what it really is,
Kemmis said.
He also encouraged the
idea of an early regional primary, but cautioned that it's only a
vehicle to move toward more power. "If we get that influence, we
need to know what we're going to say," he said.
In fact,
working behind the scenes, some Western political strategists are
already taking real steps toward making that regional influence a
reality.
Democratic strategist Michael Stratton, of Durango,
who led Sen. Ken Salazar's successful 2006 campaign in Colorado,
said he's working with the Democratic National Committee to set up a
slate of early political events that will ensure more regional
influence.
He hopes the effort will force potential
candidates from both parties to consider issues important to
residents of the region, he said.
"A lot of people think
Iowa and New Hampshire have too much clout and that they're not
representative enough," Stratton said. "In 2004, (presidential
candidates) came, they took our money and they paid lip service, but
they didn't talk our issues," Stratton said. "We've got to get the
Democrats talking our issues."
An emerging regional alliance
between traditionally Republican constituencies like hunters and
anglers, ranchers and conservation-minded residents, with a focus on
open space and natural resource protection, could bode well for
Democratic candidates in the interior West, he
said.
Wins by Democratic governors
in states that voted red is one sign for that new political
coalition, he added.
Vail Daily, Vail,
Colorado
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