Senator Obama's stops in Grand Junction and Pueblo Colorado Monday clearly show that the West is hungry for change. Today he'll be in Golden.
It was to the Pueblo Chieftain that Sen. McCain made his gaffe about renegotiating the Colorado River compact. The saying here is "Whiskey's for drinking, water's for fighting" and Coloradans take their water seriously.
Sunday I diaried about water and energy being big issues in Colorado. And Obama hit them both in his stops in Grand Junction and Pueblo.
And while Gov. Palin drew roughly 5,000 people in her stop in Golden, Sen. Obama drew 6,000 in GJ and over 13,000 in Pueblo.
Follow me and I'll touch on the significance of this after the fold.
UPDATE: First time on the Rec List! Thanks Kossaks--time to bring it home! (w/ correction--Rep. Perlmutter was elected in 06).
Grand Junction is in the heart of a dark red part of the state, in Mesa County where both Republicans and Unaffiliateds outnumber Democrats. It is the largest city between Salt Lake and the Front Range. Unlike on the Front Range (where about 80% of the state's 5 million residents reside), the populations in Western Colorado are far-flung.
Golden, on the other hand, is in Jefferson County, on the Front Range nestled against the foothills. It has a progressive mayor and council, but Jefferson County as a whole is swing territory.
The 7th Congressional District (which includes most of JeffCo) was added after the 2000 census, with an even split between GOP and Democratic voters. Republican Bob Beauprez represented the district until he retired to run his failed bid for Governor. In 2006 Democrat Ed Perlmutter was elected.
For Palin to only draw 5,000--in the heart of swing territory in the second most-populous county in Colorado--while Obama can draw more in the sparsely populated Western Slope, says a lot about what Colorado voters are thinking and where we are trending for November.
Last week, McCain and Palin visited Colorado Springs in El Paso County, home of James Dobson and Focus on the Family, the former-NORAD and Air Force Academy, and represented by too-far-right-for-many-Republicans Doug Lamborn, and drew about 10-13,000. For Republicans, this turf is as good as it gets.
Yet, Obama beat that today in Pueblo, which--although on the Front Range--is further from the big population centers of Colorado Springs, Denver and JeffCo than Colorado Springs, and--although it leans Democratic--not single-party dominated turf like the Springs. Again, this is good news for the Obama campaign.
We know it's going to come down to the ground game, and here too Obama is poised for victory, with 26 field offices in Colorado. McCain has 10 offices. There's been lots of talk about the changing West, and specifically about the role Colorado can play this year. Colorado is going Obama, and with it the nation.