Colorado and other western states are rising in prominence in the 2008 presidential race, reports the Associated Press, which says Colorado, "once shunned by presidential candidates because of its meager nine electoral votes, is already getting a lot of attention this year with visits from three presidential hopefuls in just over a week" including Democrats New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson and former Sen. John Edwards and Republican former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee.
Independent political consultant Eric Sondermann said Colorado isn't accustomed to this kind of attention early in the campaign. But he believes the tide is finally changing for Western states, which have struggled for years to find ways to persuade candidates to stop on their way to bigger states that have more electoral votes. "Colorado is increasingly on the political map," Sondermann said.
He said winning the Democratic National Convention drew attention to the fact that Democrats have scored dramatic gains in the West. Democrats have made steady progress in the region, picking up governorships from Montana to Arizona in recent years and Colorado last year. The party also gained seats in Congress and state legislatures.In an interview with The Associated Press, Huckabee said Democrats' selection of Denver for their convention shows Colorado is gaining importance in the political arena, and he predicted more candidates will be making their way west. "For Democrats, I think it certainly put Colorado in the center of the universe," he said.
Huckabee said both parties are courting voters in the West the way they courted them in the South a decade ago because traditional Western issues such as renewable energy and the environment are growing more important in other regions.
Huckabee, a former preacher, said he's coming to Colorado to meet with religious conservatives, another major political force in the West. He said he believes they will back him because of his record of supporting their values, such as opposition to abortion.
On the Democratic side, Richardson stands to do well in Colorado, a state that shares a border and a lot of the same kinds of issues as New Mexico. On the Republican side, I don't see any candidate with a natural advantage in the state.
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