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| The state's political diversity will be on display at the convention [GALLO/GETTY] |
Colorado - it's a very beautiful state, and one that is unusually important in the political calculus of the 2008 election.
Why? Because this state, with nine electoral votes, has gone to Republican candidates in four of the past five presidential elections.
But this year, analysts say Colorado is up for grabs.
We visited two cities that illustrate the state's political diversity.
Colorado Springs is a conservative bastion, with powerful mega churches and evangelical Christian organisations such as Focus on the Family setting the moral tone.
It is also home to large military bases and many veterans who often lean Republican.
Larry Small, the Republican vice-mayor, says the policies of John McCain, the Republican presidential candidate, appeal to Coloradans more than those of Barack Obama, his Democratic rival.
"It's a very fiscally conservative state and tax policy is very important to the people of Colorado," Small says.
'New ideas'
But even here there are signs of change. Jan Martin, city council member and lifelong Republican, is breaking ranks with her party this year.
She told me she is "disappointed" with the Bush administration.
"As I look back over the last decade, there hasn't been a lot of movement forward," Martin says.
"I think the way we're doing things hasn’t worked. It's time for some new ideas and some fresh thought. So yes, I am one of those Republicans for Obama."
Around 150 kilometres north of Colorado Springs lies Boulder, a left-leaning, crunchy-granola university town sometimes called the New Age Capital of America.
That is where we met Cindy Morris, writer, astrologer and self-described "priestess entrepreneur".
"The people I see are pretty much all Democrats," Morris says.
She loves Boulder's embrace of alternative thinking. Sitting in the garden of her Boulder bungalow, surrounded by her energetic trio of fox terriers, Morris told me about Boulder's "anything-goes" alternative therapy scene.
"There's every kind of modality you can imagine here, from sound healing to crystal healers, acupuncturists, hydro-colonic therapy ..." she says.
Push for voters
Obama and the Democrats are making a big push for the one-third of Colorado voters who are independents.
Deb Gardner, leader of the Boulder Democratic Party, says Obamamania is running high.
"Enthusiasm continues to build, people continue to be excited about him," she says.
A victory here and in other western states such as Nevada and New Mexico would bring in 19 electoral votes, helping to offset the party's weakness in other regions such as the south.
It could even erase McCain's advantage if he wins a big swing state like Ohio, with 20 electoral votes.
No 'slam dunk'
Polls show the candidates running neck and neck in Colorado, and the Democratic convention in Denver, the state capital, gives Obama a chance to seal the deal.
"I think he can win, Straayer says, "but I don't think it's a slam dunk by any stretch of the imagination."
Back in Boulder, Cindy Morris helpfully cast an astrological chart for Al Jazeera producer Silvio Carrillo (turns out he is a Pisces!).
She told us even her astrology cannot predict who will win the election.
But she says the stars have something special in store this year.
"Astrologically, this time period is the same configuration of the planets how they were lined up during the American Revolution, OK?" she says.
"That's huge!"
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