Introduction

Progressives have been quietly mounting impressive electoral gains in the American West -- territory that conservatives have called their own for some time. With little help from the top of the ticket in 2004, Colorado Democrats won races for the U.S. Senate and a rural congressional district, and took back the state Legislature for the first time in 44 years. Montana, meanwhile, elected a new Democratic governor and a Democratic-controlled Legislature. Popular Democrats also hold the governorships of Arizona, New Mexico, and Wyoming.

Although Western states still deliver some of the nation's biggest Republican margins of victory in presidential races, moderate Democrats are rapidly gaining ground down the ballot. If progressives play it right, more gains are just around the corner -- with clear implications for future presidential contests. The West has six of the nation's 10 fastest-growing states, led by Nevada and Arizona. As one commentator recently noted: "When they say now how you've got to win Ohio and Michigan, [you soon will] have to say how you've have to win Arizona, too. Nevada will be [just as important as] Connecticut."

For progressives, winning the West must begin with understanding the West. Progressives need to recognize that the region's history, culture, and personality have been shaped by unique influences. For example, the federal footprint here is far larger than anywhere else in the nation. The U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, and Park Service lands account for more than half of the total land mass of Arizona, Colorado, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming. The management of these lands and their resources is vitally important to Westerners.

The West also is a place of great physical beauty. Long-time Westerners are proud of the wilderness and wildlife that surrounds them and newcomers are drawn in part by the region's quality of life. Much of the west is dry, however, making water use and development -- a non-issue in most of the country -- one of the region's top concerns.

Progressives also need to respect the "live and let live" ethic that courses through the blood of long-time Westerners and newcomers alike. As Rep. Mark Udall (D-Colo.) explains: "Westerners want their privacy to be respected and value the right to be left alone."

If more progressives weave these themes into their vision for the West, if they demonstrate that they really understand core Western values, then more electoral victories are sure to follow. As other progressives have already shown, they need to stand for sensible development of Western natural resources that respects local values, meets straightforward economic and environmental tests, and protects the interests of future generations. If they do, they will expose the false promise of conservative calls for unbridled resource exploitation and at the same time gain a hearing for their broader agenda of health care, education, jobs, and other quality-of-life issues.