"Behind Democrats' climb in Mountain West"

USA Today (excerpt; there's lots more here):

Signs that the Democratic Party is getting the message:

•The Democratic National Committee this year added Nevada to the early presidential nominating contests. Nevada's caucuses will be in January 2008, between the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary. The DNC wanted to move up a racially diverse state and to please Las Vegas' powerhouse, 60,000-member Culinary Union, says Michael Gehrke of the Senate Majority Project, a Democratic group separate from the party.

•Denver is a finalist to host the 2008 national convention. The DNC will decide between it and New York City next year.

•DNC Chairman Howard Dean's "50-state strategy" put field operatives on the payroll and dispatched them a year ago for groundwork in Mountain West states that Democrats used to write off.