Shortly after the November election, Senate Democrats elevated to minority leader someone thought to be in tune with the mood of the country, yet seemingly out of step with the party: anti-abortion, anti-gun control Nevada Sen. Harry Reid. It was thought that his legislative skills and personal manner, highly regarded on both sides of the aisle, made him "the perfect guy for this moment," in the words of Delaware Sen. Joe Biden.

But it may also have been Harry Reid's very Westernness that made him so.

Last week I wrote about how the 2004 election results suggested that the time might be ripe for Democrats to adopt a "Purple Mountains Strategy" that pays more attention to Western states in coming elections. Today I'd like to explore how Western ways may help Democrats advance their vision of a more egalitarian society while moving the country beyond the politics of polarization.

In the West everything starts with the environment, where survival is ruled by harsh conditions and scarce water. Self-reliance is essential, but so, too, is cooperation, whether neighbors like each other or not. This produces independent people who also understand the necessity of working together.

These aren't qualities to which Democrats have any special claim, but they are values that make Western Democrats closer to mainstream political opinion. Compared to Republicans, who think of themselves as the party of personal responsibility, Western Democrats tend to drop the "personal," encouraging responsibility of all kinds, personal as well as social.

Responsible government working with responsible people is a Purple Mountains theme that plays well everywhere. Coming from down-to-earth populist traditions, Western Democrats know how to make government work for people in rational ways.

When conservationists teamed up with ranchers in New Mexico recently to try to protect the land from unnecessary exploitation, that was responsible policy at work. Synergistic politics like that have the power to change the reputation of Democrats as a bicoastal party hostile to average people.

Democrats elsewhere should take a lesson from life on the range and ask themselves: How do I learn to live with people I disagree with, reach out to them, find creative ways to make this complicated country work together?

It begins with a commitment to solving real problems locally, instead of straitjacketing them with ideology. Leave that to the Republicans, who have aligned themselves with religious social engineers and are dominated by Washington ideologues. Just look at Utah, which increasingly looks like it will end up storing the nation's nuclear garbage against its will, despite being the reddest state in the country.

That issue highlights an important regional characteristic. Westerners believe in live and let live. Most aren't proselytizers, nor do they want to be dictated to. For Democratic presidential candidates to succeed in the West, the party's urban power centers have to be willing to appeal for common ground on issues like gun control and land use.

Democrats like new Gov. Brian Schweitzer in Montana and U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar in Colorado won in the West in 2004 with such appeals, even while the national ticket was getting thumped in their states. With fresh wind in their sails, Western Democrats are preparing to contest the next election, while Democrats elsewhere are still arguing over the last one. They are pushing for a new Western states primary and working to consolidate their gains in 2006.

If Democrats nationally want to change the red 2004 Western presidential map, they must adopt the Purple Mountains Strategy. Western Democrats like Reid, who grew up in a tiny mining town, as well as Salazar, Schweitzer, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson and Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano, all offer new story lines for that strategy, while teaching Democrats about appealing to a broader electorate.

University of Virginia political science professor Larry Sabato recently told United Press International that Western states are "the most representative of the new America." Purple Mountains Democrats' familiarity with that new America can help other Democrats survive in this harsh new political landscape.

Harry Reid is "the perfect guy for this moment" because the West is the perfect place for it.

---

John Yewell may be reached at johnyewell@ yahoo.com