Go West, Young Man! Get Votes

ByABC News
September 10, 2008, 7:17 PM

— -- Barack Obama has made it no secret; the key to the White House is winning the West, and Colorado is one of the most coveted jewels in the close campaign. The battleground state and its nine electors sit amid a sea of strongly held Republican states (Utah, Arizona, Kansas, Wyoming and Nebraska). But John McCain can't yet count Colorado among his probable victories in his battle with Obama.

McCain couldn't even pry the state away from Republican opponent Mitt Romney, who trounced the competition by taking 70 percent of the primary vote.

While Obama did beat out Hillary Clinton in February, it will be no easy task to win Colorado a state with both a Democratic and a Republican senator. The solution may be to win over the heavily populated Mile High City and its metro area, where Obama wowed the DNC with his acceptance speech in August.