From The New West Blog

Sirota on the West’s Newfound Political Relevancy

The Intermountain West has become the most important political battleground in America, argues author and commentator David Sirota, more pivotal than Ohio and with a burgeoning influence on energy, taxes, trade and health care.

In a column today, set in Butte, Montana, Sirota writes: "[Should Democrats prevail in key races around the region], they will prove that even in fossil fuel country, candidates can win the most contested races on green platforms. That would likely prompt a more aggressive departure from the Bush administration's energy agenda."

Diary of a Mad Voter: Joan McCarter

Grousing Around

Wyoming Governor Freudenthal last week issued an executive order that seeks to strike a balance between energy development and protection of the habitat for what's left of the state's sage grouse. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has been directed by a federal judge to determine whether the sage grouse should receive protections under the federal Endangered Species Act, something Freudenthal and other Western governors would just as soon avoid.

Opinion: Presidential Election

In Electing a President, What Really Matters?

Every four years, America elects a president under democratic principles.

Let me start again. Every four years, America elects a president using a system which has its roots in democratic principles but has turned into the world’s most annoying circus of jugglers, acrobats, clowns, freak shows, trapeze acts, performing elephants, women who have no business wearing sequins but wearing them anyway, sleight-of-hand performers, tigers threatening to attack - all under the control of a Ringmaster.

This year’s campaign is no small source of annoyance, like drivers who don’t signal or your neighbor’s barking little freak designer dog. It’s a Big Top of aggravation, a spring-summer-fall long Greatest Show on Earth that justifiably leads to a lot of Americans falling off the bleachers, exhausted.

What? The media is the Ringmaster? Why, what a shocking, shocking statement. Why, the media wouldn’t cover the ludicrous stories if people didn’t clamor for them.

From The New West Blog

Denver Post Makes Pitch for Richardson as V.P.

When Barack Obama comes to Denver to accept the Democratic Party's nomination for president, the Post hopes he will have a "son of the West" -- New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson -- by his side as his running mate.

In an editorial, the Post writes, "The first test of a vice president is whether he or she is qualified to serve in the top job should the occasion arise. Richardson clearly leads all other Democratic contenders by that standard." And the piece goes on to explain why.

Changing Minds

Why Obama Is Fighting to Win Montana’s Three Votes

Montana's political landscape and its role in the national political scene is changing, and nowhere is it more evident these days than in Barack Obama's campaign.

His campaign, headed by a savvy political character who cut his teeth in campaigns in the Big Sky, has six fully staffed offices and plans for more.

Idaho Republican Senator Still Fighting

Sen. Larry Craig’s Appeal of Guilty Plea on Court Calendar

The Associated Press is reporting that Sen. Larry Craig (R-ID) has a court date in the Minnesota Court of Appeals: Sept. 10.

A three-judge panel will hear oral arguments from his attorneys that Craig should be allowed to withdraw his guilty plea after an undercover police officer said Craig solicited him for sex in a Minneapolis airport bathroom stall.

Craig’s first request to withdraw his plea was denied by a county judge.

Diary of a Mad Voter: Joan McCarter

Risch Underwhelmingly Ahead in Idaho

Research 2000, a non-partisan national polling outfit, found some very interesting results when they polled likely voters in Idaho this week. Those results have to be causing a bit of disquiet for the presumed next Senator from the state of Idaho, Republican Jim Risch.

See, despite the fact that he served as the state's governor for a year, a third of Idaho's voters don't know enough about him to give an opinion, while a quarter of them don't like him. At all. That gives the heir-apparent a 10 point lead over Democratic challenger Larry LaRocco, which is the good news. The bad news is he gets an incredibly anemic 42 percent of the vote as things stand. Which is very good news for Mr. LaRocco.

New West Book Excerpt

“Blue Man in a Red State”: An Excerpt

New West contributor Greg Lemon is a Montana journalist specializing in politics, and he recently published his first book, Blue Man in a Red State: Montana's Governor Brian Schweitzer and the New Western Populism (Globe Pequot Press, 150 pages, $22.95). The following is an excerpt from the book, covering the time Schweitzer spent in the Middle East in his mid-twenties. Lemon will discuss his book at the Borders in Bozeman on September 6 (2 p.m.).

Montana's Gov. Brian Schweitzer knew in college that he wanted to see the world. Given the fact that he was a farm kid from Geyser, Mont., Schweitzer figured his best chance to see the world was through farming. He majored in international agriculture at Colorado State University and earned his Master's degree in tropical soils from Montana State University. His first job out of college at the age of 25 took him to the Middle East to work as an agronomist on the massive project to farm the desert for the Libyan government.

Diary of a Mad Voter: Jessica Peck Corry

Initiatives a Bright Spot for Colorado GOP

While the decline of Republican dominance in Colorado has been the topic of endless media speculation, the GOP has one bright spot heading toward November: The initiative process.

A report carried in this week's LA Times falsely suggested otherwise. Titled "GOP suffering from a lack of (ballot) initiative," reporters Dan Morain and Nicholas Riccardi eagerly proclaimed that "The strategy of pushing propositions likely to draw conservatives to the polls has faltered as Republicans face mishaps in drafting measures and a more aggressive opposition."

While Morain and Riccardi are right that Colorado initiatives are facing aggressive opposition from well-funded liberals, including multiple millionaire and labor-backed lawsuits, the fact remains that of the four initiatives certified for the November ballot, all represent conservative or free-market efforts.