How the West was lost

It's easy enough to split the vast western portion of the United States into two subregions and politically stereotype them. Thus, we have the so-called Left Coast, with San Francisco, Seattle and other tree-hugging, latte-sipping, minimal-hygiene meccas. We also have the Mountain West, as red as the coast is blue. But this Blue Coast-Red Mountains construct is not only lacking in complexity, it's becoming increasingly outdated as well.

Although it seems to have passed unnoticed in the rest of the country, the West is turning purple as Democrats more suited to Big Sky than Beacon Hill have increasingly stood for office and won.

Montana exemplifies this trend. Despite its conservative reputation-and there is no doubt that this is still well-deserved-the state now has two Democratic senators. The state's governor, Brian Schweitzer, perfectly exemplifies the new Democrats of the West. He has successfully blended economic populism with social conservatism; he's proudly proclaimed that he owns "more guns than I need but not as many as I want."

Although speculation about him as a potential vice-presidential pick in 2008 seems unfounded, Schweitzer, or someone like him, will likely be the face of the Democratic Party in the near future. In fact, the nearest thing the party has this year, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, is frequently suggested as Hillary Clinton's running mate.

Of course, embracing Democrats means rejecting Republicans, and the reasons for that shift are less evident than the shift itself.

Some suggest that an exodus of Californians to the Mountain West is to blame. Although this may be true in some places-Sun City, Idaho, is an oft-cited example-the migration hasn't been sufficiently significant to explain the present state of affairs. Anyway, a Bay Area techie in favor of gun control does not become a gun nut simply by moving to Montana.

Others claim that Republicans' increasing emphasis on morality, abandoning their strongly libertarian tradition (whose father, Barry Goldwater, was himself from Arizona), has driven independent-minded mountain dwellers into the arms of local Democrats. If such disaffection was the underlying cause, it'd be reasonable to see Mountain West states supporting Democratic candidates in presidential elections. Rather, much of the Mountain West has consistently supported Republican candidates-since 1996, only New Mexico (twice), Arizona (once) and Nevada (once) have backed Democrats.

In parts of the region, however, some traditional Republicans (excluding libertarians) are turning away from the party. The Economist recently noted that in places, hunters and other sportsmen have found common cause with environmental activists, a stalwart Democratic constituency. This unlikely union is the result of Republican policies favoring the energy industry, threatening to deprive sportsmen of their beloved hunting grounds and environmentalists of their dearly-hugged trees.