I just finished teaching the last of my community college classes tonight and have the tests graded and grades done so I can return to the real world, and get back to watching and commenting on the state of Democratic politics as I seem them.
I am catching up on my reading by reading April 2006's The American Prospect, which has an excellent article on Al Gore's rebirth as a ecologist and innovator and a "Special Report" on "After Oil" that includes an article by Bracken Hendricks "A New Prairie Populism" in which Hendricks asserts
As clean energy begins to transform economies in America's heartland, it creates fertile ground for a new progressive politics.
Hendrick points out that the most successful Democratic candidates in the 2004 elections in the Red States in the heartland ran on the idea of converting our motor vehicles to run on renewable energy (ethol alcohol and biodiesel), especially Gov. Brian Schweitzer of Montana. The conservative farmers of the region are pro-gun ownership and pro-life, but they are mainly concerned with finding a way to stay on their farms and having their kids take over their farms when they decide to retire from farming.
The maps with this article clearly show that the crops produced in the center of the nation (Red States) could yield enough ethanol to replace 25% of the US gasoline that will be demanded by 2025. If we become the heroes of this quest, we will gain control of the national and state governments in these red states.
These articles are well worth your time if you want to go on the American Prospect website and check them out in the archives and red these articles for your self.