Go to the mobile version of this Web site.

Login | Contact Us | Site Map | Paid archives | Electronic edition | Subscription Questions | Extras

Denver's convention hopes leap skyward

Democrats' election showing brightens city's '08 prospects

Daniel J. Chacón, Rocky Mountain News

Published November 9, 2006 at midnight

Text size  

More Airlines & Aerospace

More stories »

A Democratic resurgence in the Rocky Mountain West on Election Day is giving Denver high hopes of landing the 2008 party convention.

"This morning the sun is reflecting bright blue from all corners of the northeast, but it is also very, very blue out here, and we think that is a great message and a great stage for the potential (presidential) nominee," Debbie Willhite, executive director of the Denver 2008 Host Committee, said Wednesday.

The Democratic National Committee is expected to announce by December whether it's Denver or New York City that will host the presidential-nominating bash.

At a news conference in Washington, D.C., Democratic Party Chairman Howard Dean said he's still negotiating with both cities.

But local Democrats say Denver has a great chance of winning.

"I believe the people who are making the decisions are looking at Colorado and looking at the West as the future of the country," Colorado Democratic Sen. Ken Salazar said.

"Given the role that I expect (Senate leader Harry Reid of Nevada) to play in the next two years, and his strong support for bringing the convention to Colorado, I feel very good about our chances," he said.

Colorado and its neighbor states - New Mexico, Nevada, Montana, Wyoming, Utah, Arizona and Idaho - are considered key battlegrounds in the race for the White House.

Western states have become a showcase for a new breed of Democratic leaders who have won over voters in America's heartland, which has long been considered Republican turf.

Consider this: Five of the eight Western states now have Democratic governors. Before 2002, all were Republican.

And in Tuesday's election, Colorado, which has more registered Republicans and unaffiliated voters than Democrats, picked a Democratic governor and elected a Democrat to a House seat that had been occupied by the GOP.

For the first time in nearly a half-century, Democrats control the Governor's Mansion as well as the state legislature.

"Part of our argument from Day 1 has been that the Rocky Mountain West is really the new frontier for the Democratic Party, and what we saw (Tuesday) night was reaffirmation of the fact that the future for the Democrats lies in the West," said Dan Slater, first vice chair of the state Democratic Party and a member of the host committee.

"It's becoming clear, I think, to the Democrats nationally that they've got to kind of realign themselves and start looking West in terms of electoral victories," he said.

Willhite echoed that sentiment.

"The purpose of a national convention is to introduce your nominee officially to the country and to the world," she said.

"We think it is a stronger political statement to do that in a region of the country that is turning more and more to the Democrats for leadership, locally and statewide and in the House and in the Senate."

or 303-954-5099