Working in Democratic political circles out west, one of the most irritating and annoying memes that tends to pop up is the myth of Bill Clinton's supposed resounding victories out here in 1992. This is most recently being regurgitated by Mark Penn, Hillary Clinton's top campaign aide (and, incidentally, the head of a PR firm that helps corporations crush unions). Here's what I'm talking about:
"And because of her unique ability to take advantage of changing demographics, Hillary can also turn Colorado, Arizona, Nevada and Montana from Red to Blue. Bill Clinton was the only Democrat since 1968 to win these states, and Hillary Clinton is the only Democrat positioned to win them in 2008."
If you can get past the laughable claim that "Hillary Clinton is the only Democrat position to win [the West] in 2008," take a look at these two election maps side-by-side, one from 1992 and one from 1996 from Dave Leip's Election Atlas:
In this map, red is Democrat and blue is Republican. You will note that the Western states Clinton lost the Western states that Penn referred to in 1996, after winning them in 1992. That's because of Ross Perot - the guy every Clinton triumphalist wishes we would all forget so that we just think that Bill Clinton was the most awesome candidate with the most incredible cross-regional appeal in the history of politics.
In fact, the data suggests something far more mundane. In 1992, Perot received 23% in Colorado, 24% in Arizona, 26% in Nevada and 26% in Montana. That's how Clinton became "the only Democrat since 1968 to win these states" - not because he was some kind of amazingly newfangled candidate with Western appeal, but because a third-party candidate took a huge chunk out of the Republicans. And if Democrats don't appreciate that fundamental truth and why a populist candidacy like Ross Perot was so potent in this region, then they telegraph that they don't really appreciate how this region's unique politics really works.
This isn't to say a Democrat - or even Hillary Clinton - cannot compete in some Western states in 2008. But her strategists should stop propagating such absurdly overstated spin and revisionist history. It just makes them look like a bunch of two-bit hacks.
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