[Torie]

Yes, I watched the candidates in the Colorado 77th on CSPAN, and Pubbie was much more impressive. But the Gore plus Nader vote in the district was 54%, and it really has a slight Dem lean. I must await a poll before I adjust my odds. But it is ripe I suspect for an adjustment unless the macro climate for Pubbies deteriorates. This is one district where a weak economy will hurt the Pubbie, since the district has a large blue collar component.

[BoomerBob]

I completely understand your reluctance via the 2000 vote. I posted a couple of days ago a Tarrance (R) poll that shows an 8 point lead for the GOP. Bear in mind that this is an internal poll that was not released to the press so its something more than a typical, partisan poll.

The 7th CD is my district so I'm following it rather closely. My reasons for giving the race a GOP lean are a significant money advantage by the GOP, a pending visit by GWB in the latter part of this month, no Dem coattails in the state to drive turnout and of course, as you saw on C-Span, the GOP candidate is much more appealing in appearance and delivery.

The voter registration in the district is roughly a third Dem, a third GOP and a third independent (I don't have the numbers in front of me but I believe the Dem registration outnumbered the GOP by only one or two percentage points.)

I'm watching for any polling data out of the Dem camp on this race but the lack thereof makes me suspicious that their internals show their candidate down as well.

BB