Climb Every Mountain

DENVER -- When Dems decided to host their convo in Denver, they hoped it would help them grow in the Mountain West. Little did they know their WH primary did more than a convo could ever do to advance Dems downballot.

-- Take NV-02, a conservative stronghold. In an 8/27 interview, '06 nominee Jill Derby (D) pointed to increased Dem voter registration as one of the biggest positives for her re-match with Rep. Dean Heller (R). And she's right. GOPers still hold onto a sizeable lead, but thanks to a very competitive caucus, Dems have gained a net of 20K voters in the CD since '06. And in the all-important Washoe Co. (home to Reno and Sparks), Dems have picked up 11K voters on the GOP, and are nearly even. For Derby, who lost by just 13K votes in '02, those numbers are very encouraging.

-- How about the WH race? In results that run counter to what happened elsewhere, Barack Obama won her rural CD handily in the caucus. She pointed to those results as a reason he won't be a drag on the ticket.

-- Heller's got the upper hand in this race, but don't discount Derby's chances. Dems are playing in CDs they have no business touching in the Mountain West (see ID-01, CO-04, WY-AL, etc). Will Derby be the next success story?