Blue-er America II

Iowa -- Iowa City and Des Moines, the areas we visited, seem pretty solidly Democratic. I was surprised to learn that Barack Obama is leading by a wide margin in Iowa City's "Coffee Bean Caucus" (usually a pretty valid indicator of how Iowa City is leaning), but I actually put in my bean for Edwards because he has impressed me of late with his talk of dismantling those embedded DC systems that undermine our democracy. I can see him winning his own Nobel Prize in a few years.

Mind you, I don't know that I would necessarily vote for Edwards in the general election, or if he'll get through the primaries, but for this day he had my vote. Iowa's going blue, I think.

Nebraska -- I was floored to see not one but several "Nebraskans for Peace" stickers on cars in and outside of Lincoln. Not that it matters, but while I did pick up a conservative vibe, I think it was more of a "real" conservative streak which is pretty far from a "neocon" type mindset. This is the sort of state where Democrats who "forget" to mention gun control and make a few right-leaning gestures can do well. Nebraska might go blue for a change!

Colorado -- Probably going Democratic this year. The Dem convention is in Denver and that's no accident. The Democratic Party sees a real opportunity to strengthen their base in the West (to make up for the fact that they stupidly alienated the South). Sure California's always been a "liberal" stronghold (despite the current governor), but they've made some real gains in terms of power out here, and I think they'll take it.

Wyoming -- Wyomans (sp?) would probably be the first to tell you that they've got a lot of weirdos living out here. A look through the local "alternative" paper here in Jackson Hole reveals some bona-fide mental illness in the letters section (Hollywood staged 9/11, didn't you know that??). Politically they are all over the map, but broadly lean Republican because of the strong "anti-government" mindset that's popular here. However, having now seen that Republicans in power = worse than Democrats, they may rethink their views. Still, I would bet Wyoming will ultimately go down in the Red column in 2008 -- their fear of gun-controlling terrorist homosexuals is just too great.