DENVER—The primaries are over, and it’s time for the Democratic Party’s presumptive nominee, Barack Obama, to put his stamp on the Democratic National Convention. But what will his message be?
For a campaign that offered a message of change, there’s plenty of it in the West.
In 2002, Democrats swept five members of the Western Governor’s Association from office. In 2004, they won Montana, and in 2006 they won control of Colorado’s statehouse and governor’s office for the first time in 42 years, along with a U.S. Senate seat. They could take another Senate seat this year with the retirement of Sen. Wayne Allard.
That record inspired Howard Dean, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, to declare that the West has a road map to the White House for Democrats. Dean said Democratic gains in the West show that voters want politicians to focus on bipartisan collaboration, straight-talk honesty and a government for all Americans, not just a chosen few.
In Colorado, that translated to a campaign by Gov. Bill Ritter and Democrats for a “new energy economy” that would bring renewable energy and jobs, as well as programs to rebuild schools and provide more college scholarships using taxes from the oil and gas industry.
In Montana, Gov. Brian Schweitzer, a farmer and rancher, became the first Democratic governor in 20 years with programs to cut taxes, provide rebates to homeowners and increase the number of children getting health insurance.
In New Mexico, Gov. Bill Richardson was re-elected in 2006 with 69 percent of the vote, the largest margin for any governor in state history, after setting up programs to improve education, cut taxes and raise the minimum wage. In Arizona, Janet Napolitano was named one of the nation’s top five governors by Time magazine after fighting for improved health care and homeland security.
Obama’s campaign says it’s too early to set the tone for the convention. Matthew Nugen, his campaign’s political director, is coming to Denver to oversee operations for the Democratic National Convention.
Obama’s insistence on new ways of doing things struck a chord at a town meeting May 28 in the north-Denver suburb of Thornton. Democrat Marsha Mander of Thornton said she didn’t object to his then-rival, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, but believed Obama “is going to bring a fresh, new approach to the office.”
Obama talked mainly about education after touring a charter school. Mander, who has three children in college, said she was impressed by the candidate’s ease with the audience and the breadth of the issues he covered. Besides education, he talked about education and business.
“Understand that my starting principle is, everybody should be bilingual or everybody should be trilingual,” Obama said, responding to a question about bilingual education. Otherwise, he said, the United States will struggle to keep up with economic competition from other countries.
One Colorado political consultant said he expects Obama to use Denver as a showcase for gains made by Democrats who focus on policy rather than partisanship.
“This is a state in transition to Democrats and progressive ideas, to independent thinking,” Floyd Ciruli said.
Those ideas include a focus on solutions for economic and other kitchen table issues facing families rather than social issues, as well as avoiding partisan warfare and endless score-settling.
Colorado Democratic Party chairwoman Pat Waak noted that Obama won Colorado’s caucuses with 67 percent of the vote. She expects Obama to attract a large number of unaffiliated voters who want to see solutions instead of the usual political wrangling.
“This is a very different state now. Barack Obama did well in this state. This is a West that is independent, willing to look at candidates and their authenticity. He’s the kind of candidate westerners like,” Waak said.
Tom Noel, a Colorado historian, noted this isn’t the first time Colorado helped set the agenda in national elections.
At the 1908 Democratic National Convention in Denver, women were allowed to attend for the first time as voting delegates. Democrats angered the female delegates by refusing to back a national suffrage movement.
Ciruli said Democrats have a good chance of winning the presidential vote in New Mexico, Nevada and Colorado this year.
In 2004, Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry made his Vietnam war experience a prominent theme, telling Boston conventioneers in his speech he was “reporting for duty.” But he lost the West after insisting voters in the West were no different than voters on the East Coast.
Obama now gets to choose the theme of his party’s convention, the colors, the agenda and the message. He has said the main themes will probably center on the conduct of the Iraq war, the economy and health care.
There are also events Obama and the Democrats can’t control, including protests planned in Denver against abortion, the war and other polarizing issues.
“You can count on a lot of street theater,” Ciruli said.
