The West flexes political muscle

Last week, the Republican National Committee elected conservative Colorado businessman Jim Nicholson to lead the national party. Earlier this month, Democrats tapped Colorado Governor Roy Romer to head up the Democratic National Committee. For the first time in history, two Coloradans will lead the nation's two largest and oldest political parties.

Many factors, not just geography, shaped these decisions. Romer's selection was influenced by the unwillingness of former Michigan Governor Jim Blanchard to take the position. Nicholson was odd man out in early balloting led by former New Hampshire Governor Steve Merrill (who also served as Bob Dole's campaign chairman) and David Norcross, the RNC's chief counsel. "But, in the end," according to GOP guru Eddie Mahe, "Republicans wanted a fresh face -- and having a home base outside Washington and in the Rocky Mountain West didn't hurt Nicholson's (or Romer's) cause." It is now well established that the nation's economic center of gravity, along with its population center, is moving to the West. Most of America's fastest growing companies are located in the West. Most leading New Economy enterprises -- computers, software, communications, civil aviation, biotechnology, entertainment, multimedia, and specialty manufacturing -- are headquartered in the West. Since 1983, the U.S. has traded more across the Pacific than the Atlantic.

And the West's growing economic muscle is not just California. New wealth creation is increasingly centered in the Rocky Mountain region, where Colorado is an anchor tenant. Examples: Eight of the 10 top job-producing states, eight of the 10 fastest-growing states and seven of 10 states with the most rapid gains in personal income are in the Rockies -- including Colorado.

Because political power follows people and wealth in a democracy, it's not surprising that the nation's political center of gravity is also moving to the West, symbolized by the new titles sported by Romer and Nicholson. And the shift is more than symbolic. Example: the growing power of the West in presidential contests. At the turn of the century, the West accounted for 1-in-6 electoral votes (16%); by the time of Dwight Eisenhower's election in 1952, it was 1-of-4; in the 1996 election, the West accounted for 1-of-3 electoral votes.

The Rocky Mountain West is also more important. California, with 54 electoral votes, is courted by every presidential candidate. But the public lands states of the West outside of California have 58 electoral votes, which is one reason Utah Governor Mike Leavitt is urging Rocky Mountain leaders to adopt a regional primary for the year 2000 election cycle.

Most of these voters are concentrated in 10 media markets, about the same number needed to reach California's voters, but the cost of media in the Rocky Mountain West is much cheaper than in California. So the New West -- including the Rockies, not just California -- now counts in national politics.

Romer and Nicholson face major challenges. Romer has survived and prospered in Colorado by governing more conservatively than he really is. As DNC helmsman, he will have to appear more liberal than he really is -- and as a chairman in absentia he will be even more vulnerable to the intrigues of party long knives at headquarters. Nicholson has to prove that he is a party builder and can effectively communicate the party's message through the national media. Both have to prove they can deal with party oligarchs in Congress. Whatever happens to the parties under Colorado leadership, it is clear that the 1996 election cycle marked an important milestone for the West's growing influence in national politics.