This recognition has drawn the Democrat who is governor of New Mexico and the Republican who is governor of Utah to join those seeking to revive the Western States Primary.
An old brainstorm of former Utah Gov. Mike Leavitt, that primary wasn't a big draw in 2000 and didn't even happen in 2004. But 2008, as Utah's Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. and New Mexico's Gov. Bill Richardson see it, is a good chance to try again. We agree.
The next presidential election will be about as wide open as any in memory, and a good time for the relatively small states of Utah, Wyoming, Idaho, Montana, Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada and Arizona to get together to attract the candidates who will be scrapping for every vote.
Together, those eight states have 44 electoral votes, 11 less than California has all by itself. But that's still more than Iowa's seven or New Hampshire's four, and thus arguably a better tune-up for the general election.
The Republicans, with President Bush constitutionally barred from a third term and Vice President Dick Cheney's health issues and reluctance on the record, have no obvious standard-bearer.
A run through the Western States Primary could help the Republicans find a candidate who would appeal to their right-wing base and also the growing and more politically diverse suburbs of Denver, Phoenix and Las Vegas.
On the Democratic side, New York Sen. Hillary Clinton is the most recognizable name, but carries enough baggage that she could not easily seize the nomination even if she wanted it.
If she did want it, the Intermountain West would be a good place to test her ability to stand on the same moderate Democratic platform that got her husband elected twice. If she can't, better for the Democratic Party that it know that early in the process, as in February of 2008, when its backers hope to schedule the Western primary.
Because a Western States Primary is clearly in the interest of both parties, it only remains for the leaders of those states to see that it is in their interests, too, not only to gain the attention of the national parties, and pick up a few bucks, but also to help the process result in nominees of a more Western bent.
