Who’s laughing now?

Oh boy, didn’t we have fun chuckling at Howard Dean? How we derided his “50 State” strategy? Good times, good times. From the WashPost “West Is Going in Democrats' Direction - Choice of Denver as Convention Site Reflects Political Shift in Mountain States”:

When the major political parties gathered for their national conventions in 2004, Colorado had a Republican governor, a Republican-controlled legislature and a Republican edge of 5 to 2 in the state's congressional delegation. Today, Colorado's governor is a Democrat. The Democrats control both houses of the legislature. Four of the seven congressional seats are held by Democrats.

That transformation, mirrored in varying degrees across the Rocky Mountain West, is a key reason the Democratic Party decided this week to hold its 2008 nomination convention in Denver, the financial, governmental and transit hub of the mountain states. As party leaders ponder how they can regain the White House in the next election, the region looks more and more essential to an electoral-vote victory.

George Will seems to believe that we’ve entered a new Congressional cycle where control changes between parties every decade or so. I’m doubtful. It’s always been my belief that the Democrats have a built-in advantage because they’re the party who are going to tax “the other guy” and give you all kinds of free stuff. When the Republicans fail to live up to their pledge of fiscal responsibility, they blur the distinction between the parties…and lose. This Democratic creep into the Midwest is a sign of bigger problems down the road until the GOP gets its act together.