Once GOP stronghold, West veers into Dems' column.

[JaneyVee]

DENVER (AP) — A political generation ago, the West signaled the nation's rightward swing, from the emergence of Ronald Reagan to the success of tax-limitation ballot measures in California and Colorado.

Now, however, the fabled expanse of deserts, jagged peaks, and emerald coastlines is trending in a different direction.
The West has become largely Democratic terrain.

Voters in Washington state in November legalized marijuana and upheld the legality of gay marriage. New Mexico was once a tightly contested state, but Republicans ceded it to Democrats in the presidential campaign.

-snip-

Still, the overall trend is clear, according to analysts on all sides of the political spectrum.

"It's just a different world," said Bill Carrick, a Democratic strategist in Los Angeles who has worked widely in the region. "Nevada became the next California and now Arizona looks like it will become the next Nevada. ... It's just pushing the West further and further from Republicans."

The rest: http://news.yahoo.com/once-gop-stronghold-west-veers-dems-column-155520480--election.html
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And in less than a generation from now I'm predicting Texas & some southern states will be ours as well.

[Bjorn Against]

1. If Texas ever goes blue the Republican Party will be officially dead

I see no way the Republicans could ever win the Presidency without Texas, if Texas continues to trend blue as it almost certainly will it could turn the Republicans into the new Whig Party.

[sabbat hunter]

2. Texas is not trending blue really

It still is electing republicans to almost all the major offices. When a member of the Democratic Party can win more than a handful of congressional seats or win a statewide race or two, I will agree.

[w8liftinglady]

3. I predict... next Texas governor = Julian Castro.

Next Senator= Wendy Davis. From my mouth to the great one's ears.

[ZRT2209]

9. but you know they want to put George P. Bush in the Gov and line

him up for POTUS

[Bjorn Against]

5. It is trending blue

It still has a long ways to go but the trends are moving towards the Democrats. Texas is still solid red right now but it is getting less red, Hispanics are getting out the vote in much larger numbers than they have in the past and as the Hispanic vote grows the state moves closer to the Democrats. A shift is still several years away, but the Democrats have good reason to be hopeful about the future in Texas because the trends are moving in their direction.

[bluestate10]

4. Other than Texas heading toward blue, the bit of insight above has to be the most un-insightful

prose that I have read in years. California, Oregon and Washington have for a long time been democratic bastions, going republican only when democrats were veering so far to the left as to be unelectable. The country is a center-left country, politicians that govern in that strain will win office. Arizona is trending blue and won't be far behind Texas, if Arizona don't become blue first. States like Louisiana and Georgia can be turned blue with determined, well thought out political organizing and finding the right candidates.

[davidn3600]

7. There is a difference though many times between state and presidential elections

Florida for example went for Obama twice, but when you look at the state government, it is THOROUGHLY dominated by Republicans and there is no indication that's changing. In fact in 2010, the GOP had a veto proof legislature. Florida also does flip flop a lot in presidential elections. It did go for for Reagan twice, then Clinton twice, then Bush twice. It could flip back to red in 2016 and wouldnt surprise anyone.

That's a purple state.

Texas is more likely to go that Florida route than turn reliably "blue" or "liberal." I dont see Texas ever being a truly blue state in our lifetimes. Its a cultural thing.

Another odd state is West Virginia which tends to vote Democratic in the state races but reliably Republican for president. Ohio is another one of these kind of odd states where they split the tickets.

[Rstrstx]

12. TX is more like AZ than FL

Basically Arizonans are Texans who don't go to church as much. FL has perhaps the wildest demographic mix in the country, it's a mess to untangle and dissect.

Once the Hispanic vote reaches a critical mass the two states will flip pretty quickly, spending about a decade in swing state status before passing the point of no return. Arizona will go first for a number of reasons, it's smaller so it's cheaper to flip plus it has a slightly less R lean to begin with. Republicans may try and figure out a way to grab, say, 40% of the Hispanic vote but it will be futile in most cases, I think they've lost that demographic for generations much like Democrats did with the southern white vote. Jorge Bush may have the look down but the average Joe is going to trust Julian 1000 times more for good reason, even if his Spanish isn't as good.

Sure both states will elect the occasional Republican (if Massachusetts did it any state can) but the political machinery should switch to the Democratic party sooner than many think - look at how quickly the Rs took TX over. Now they may not be as liberal as the Democrats of SF or NYC but they will still be Democrats at their core (especially WRT social programs). I think the "culture wars" will have settled down somewhat by then, with the left basically having won most battles (their opponents dying off from old age).

[dsc]

8. the article appears to be more about states

such as Nevada, Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona than the West Coast. The Mountain west has become very good to us in recent elections. Obama carried Colorado, New Mexico, and Nevada both times. Clinton won Montana, New Mexico, Colorado, and Nevada in 1992 and Nevada, Arizona, and New Mexico in 1996. Gore won New Mexico in 2000. In 2004 Kerry won none. Remember Clinton was in three people races while Gore and Kerry were in two person races. Now we are able to reliably win two people races in enough of the mountain west to make the area barely a loss for us. Obama lost only 7 electoral votes in the Mountain west (27 - 20) compared to a 44-0 blowout that Kerry suffered. Obama lost Arizona by just over 9 points. If the we can start winning Arizona it would be (31 - 16) our favor. That would be pretty much game over for the GOP.

[Lordquinton]

11. California goes red when they pour insane amounts of cash into elections

and we take for granted that it'll go blue. Texas is far bluer than it looks, due to extreme gerrymandering.

[abq e streeter]

6. New Mexico has been an island of blue out here.Glad we're getting bluer neighbors.

Although we're still sort of schizophrenic. Democratic legislature, 2 Dem Senators, 2 of 3 Reps, and a Sarah Palin-endorsed Teabagger governor.

[freshwest]

10. I don't see those iniatives as primarily Democratic, but Libertarian. JMHO. n/t