Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean predicts the party might not settle on a presidential nominee until March, despite the parade of states, including Colorado, moving their primaries to Feb. 5.

"I don't think we'll know who the nominee is on Feb. 5," Dean said Wednesday.

Unless one candidate sweeps the first primaries in Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada in January, Dean said, the Democrats probably won't know who their candidate will be until much later in the spring.

"We'll know the nominee either in January or March or maybe later," he said.

Dean's comments followed a boisterous rally by several hundred Democrats at the Pepsi Center held to mark the one-year countdown to the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver.

Dean and many of his fellow Democrats were in a fighting mood.

"There are clear differences between Democrats and Republicans," he told the cheering crowd.

"Every single one of the Republicans running for president thinks we ought to stay in Iraq, maybe for as long as 50 years. Every Democrat thinks we ought not to be there."

Dean appeared with Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter and Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper. He made it clear that Democrats view Colorado and the mountain West as a place they can challenge Republicans and win.

"The road to the White House goes through the West; that's why we're in Denver," said Dean. "We can win these states, but we have to work hard to do so."

In comments after his speech, Dean predicted the four big issues in the presidential election will be Iraq, health care, the economy and the "culture of corruption" in Washington.

"Do we want to move the country forward or go back to the 1950s?" he asked.

A spokesman for the Republicans said that voters will be turned off by the Democrats' strident words.

"Howard Dean's screaming liberal rhetoric is only a preview of what voters in Denver are likely to see once Democrats nominate their candidate in 2008," said Paul Lindsay, of the Republican National Committee.

Ritter told the crowd that western Democrats have much to teach their counterparts in the rest of the country, noting that Democratic governors have been elected in most of the West, a region once dominated by Republicans.

"They have Democratic governors because we're willing to tackle big problems," said Ritter, citing education, health care and jobs as the major issues.

DNC: Countdown to Denver

Saturday: The Rocky checks out the private to-do lists as the city, politicians, party members and vendors figure what they need to get done before Aug. 25, 2008.

Monday: The long, long road to Denver for the Democratic presidential candidates, chronicled by reporter M.E. Sprengelmeyer.

Tuesday and Wednesday: Denver's convention may well create history by choosing either the first black or woman as the presidential nominee of a major party. Columnist Mike Littwin profiles Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.

Hoping to feel a draft

In a sea of Democrats, one T-shirt stood out: "Draft Young Republicans."

It was worn by Democrat Steve Morris, 39, of Denver.

"It's their war," he said, explaining the slogan. "Let them fight it."

Morris is looking forward to 2008, although he admitted he still hasn't gotten over the 2004 presidential election.

"Where are all the sensible-minded people?" he asked.

Morris is a fan of Democratic gatherings. He met his wife, Melissa, at an event for Al Gore at the Denver Performing Arts Complex.

Family man

It's not what Howard Dean said that bothered Bill Jones. It's what the chairman of the Democratic National Committee didn't say.

"I didn't hear anything about working families," Jones said, looking straight into a camera operated by a DNC staffer. "Democrats support working families more than Republicans do."

The DNC asked participants Wednesday what they wanted to see at the convention.

Jones identified himself as a Democratic "precinct activist," but he's better known for his work on behalf of the transit union that represents Regional Transportation District employees.

Drinking in the atmosphere

Hey, did you know you can get really drunk at this elevation? Well, it's true, so watch out. And it's even worse in the mountains.

That was the advice a man wearing an Obama '08 T-shirt gave to some bystanders.

He revealed that he lived in Englewood but laughingly declined to give his name.

"I don't want my name in the paper saying that," he said.

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