Guardian UK: Obama Plots Route To Victory In Repub Heartland (Red States Within Dem Grasp)

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http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/aug/20/barackobama.johnmccain?gusrc=rss

US: Winning the west ... Obama plots route to victory in Republican heartland
Grassroots organisation brings conservative states within Democrats' grasp

Suzanne Goldenberg in Denver
The Guardian, Wednesday August 20 2008

When Montana's governor, Brian Schweitzer, launched his campaign for re-election this summer he chose to be pictured on a horse lassooing a calf, and in silhouette against a barn door, presumably after a long hard day on the ranch.

What was not mentioned was the word Democrat - a party affiliation that in some parts of the west still conjures up associations with gay marriage, gun control and abortion.

Those sensibilities could be in for a shake-up as Barack Obama launches the Democrats' most aggressive drive for years for votes from the Rocky Mountain west.

The strategy unrolling now across the west could turn once reliably Republican states such as Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and possibly even Montana into America's new electoral battleground. But it is Colorado which is viewed as the biggest prize.

"Colorado defines competitive," said Dick Wadhams, the chairman of the state Republican party. "I think either party could carry Colorado."

It all hinges on how you define Democrat - a political label that has been comprehensively altered by a new generation of elected politicians in the west - and an impressive grassroots organisation now being assembled by the Obama campaign.

The big push begins next week when some 50,000 Democrats are expected to converge on Denver for the party's convention. Democrats see the convention, especially the spectacle surrounding Obama's nomination speech at a giant football stadium, as a chance to impress on voters in Colorado and other states the party's renewed commitment to the west.

Obama's first appearances on his return from holiday this week were in Nevada and New Mexico, and the campaign says he is planning to campaign in Colorado after the convention. "Colorado and the west are both a big focus of this campaign," said Stephanie Mueller, a spokeswoman for the Obama campaign in Denver.

Not that John McCain, the Republican candidate, is expected to yield easily. McCain has lived in Arizona for the last 25 years, and has made frequent visits to Colorado and Nevada.

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