Posted on 03/06/2005 2:11:38 PM PST by GOPXtreme20
Colo. Democrats Eye Second Senate Seat
U.S. National - AP
By STEVEN K. PAULSON, Associated Press Writer
DENVER - After bucking a national trend toward the political right in the last election with wins in the state Capitol and the congressional delegation, emboldened Colorado Democrats are seeking to expand on their gains.
Democrats are convinced Republicans have lost their way in Colorado, said Chris Gates, who was state Democratic Party chairman during the November election.
"There is definitely a significant shift going on in Colorado, and I think Colorado is a beachhead for the Democratic Party in the Rocky Mountain West," said Gates.
A spokesman for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee in Washington, Phil Singer, agrees.
"The success we had in Colorado the last cycle offers a roadmap for success in the West," Singer said.
Democrats also see potential for victories in Montana, which elected Brian Schweitzer as the first Democratic governor in 20 years, and Utah, where Salt Lake County voters elected a Democratic mayor. Arizona and New Mexico have Democratic governors.
On Thursday, Colorado Rep. Mark Udall, a member of a Western political dynasty, announced he would forego a widely expected gubernatorial bid in favor of a 2008 campaign to oust Republican Sen. Wayne Allard.
If Udall wins, he would give Democrats control of both of the state's Senate seats for the first time since 1974.
Allard has refused to say whether he will keep his promise to step down after two terms. If Allard does not run, Republicans may try to persuade Gov. Bill Owens to enter the race after he leaves office in 2006 because of term limits.
In the November election, Democrats picked up the Senate seat vacated by Republican Ben Nighthorse Campbell. Democratic Attorney General Ken Salazar defeated beer magnate Pete Coors to win the seat, and Democrats also captured control of the state Legislature and wrested a congressional seat from the GOP.
Udall's chief of staff, Alan Salazar, who is not related to Ken Salazar, said the November election showed Colorado voters are willing to split the ticket and support candidates instead of parties.
"It's not a red state or a blue state, but a purple state," Salazar said.
Pollster Floyd Ciruli said Colorado has gradually shifted from a staunchly conservative state focused on anti-tax initiatives and conservative values to a more middle-of-the-road stance.
Ciruli said Democrats benefited from unusual circumstances last year that resulted in a huge turnout because of widespread interest in the presidential race, while Republicans focused on re-electing President Bush and defeating a constitutional amendment that would have divided up the state's electoral votes.
"Clearly the Republicans were distracted. The Democrats should not depend on that happening again," Ciruli said.
Colorado Democrats are not entirely unified — because of his support of Ken Salazar, Gates is now out of a job. On Saturday, Gates narrowly lost the party's chairmanship to Pat Waak, a party activist upset because Gates supported Salazar over a more liberal candidate, educator Mike Miles, in the primary. Gates is challenging his loss.
Colorado College political science professor Bob Loevy said he wasn't surprised by Gates' ouster because the state party structure makes it easier for more liberal Democrats to seize control.
Brian Nick, spokesman for the National Republican Senatorial Committee, maintains that Democrats are now vulnerable because of Salazar's direction in the Senate.
"He jumped head first into the liberal wing of the Democratic Party. It's the Democrats who are misreading Colorado. The president carried Colorado," Nick said.
Emboldened by the behavior of Ward Churchill, no doubt.
We definitely must be ready for such a possibility. Colorado on election day was almost a disaster; hopefully it won't be so in 2006.
Amen. Colorado Republicans have gotten a bit lazy, IMHO, including myself. I've taken the usual anti-tax, conservative stance for granted. The dems snuck up on us.
2008? Getting a little ahead of ourselves, aren't we?
OK, I'll admit it, I can't put Colorado and beachhead in the same sentence.
Maybe "Colorado has turned into a raging rapids of Demo enthusiasm
But not a "Beachhead"
Please, Colorado, make Salazar and his ilk the last and loneliest Democrats in the West. Please. America's future may depend on keeping the West conservative, solidifying the base in the South, and changing the hearts of the good people in the midwest, who KNOW the Democrats aren't good for the Constitution but are in a habit of voting for their good ol' boy liberal buddies.
Our goal must be to limit the sphere of influence for liberals to the extreme left coast and extreme northeast. Once that is established, inroads can be made into these strongholds of socialism.
The problem was that they had a new campaign finance regime that allowed a small number of extremely rich fatcats to target a handful of marginal House and Senate seats. Again, they actually received fewer votes for the legislature in 2004 than the GOP.
The House seat and Senate seat, meanwhile, were great Dem victories, but based mostly on the candidates in the races. Walcher and Coors were both poor candidates, and the Salazar brothers ran away from John Kerry as much as they possibly could.
In short, I think the obviously pro-Democrat AP author of this piece is delusional.
If Allard does not run, Republicans may try to persuade Gov. Bill Owens to enter the race after he leaves office in 2006 because of term limits.
Senator Ken Salazar is doing a lot to stop this in its tracks. In many ways he ran as a more conservative senator than some of the northeastern republicans. But now he is aligning himself with the democratic leadership, and I don't imagine Coloradans will like the idea of electing another Senator that goes back on his word within a month of taking office.
Specifically, Salazar has now come out against Judge Myers, a man who last year he endorsed for the position he is now nominated for.
He ran promising a "moderate" course, including supporting Bush's nominees for the bench.
It is a shame, because we need to have "choice" in elections, which we can only have if in the red states democrats can run who can promise and deliver on conservative principles. If the electorate learns that the person doesn't matter, only the party, we will end up with an entire senate full of really crappy yes-men for their parties, and everybody will have to vote party instead of people.
This would not be good for our country.
Charles.
Correct me if I am wrong, but I remember reading on some liberal websites that Salazar ran strongly on anti-gay feelings and tagged Coors with being a gay rights supporter.
looks likes the dems will win this one
Since Salazar lied to get some "conservatives" to vote for him in '04, I guess the Dems may be able to find another Latino liar to attempt a re-run of their success. The first thing Salazar did was support Kennedy and Byrd in piling on the President over Social Security and judicial appointments. They may talk like a "conservative Catholic" but they are all socialists under the skin.
Colorado has actually become a lot more Republican in the last 15 years because of all the Californian Republican tax refugees have gone there. Not only did Bush improve dramatically in Colo. this time, but the GOP got more votes for the legislature than did the dems.
8 posted on 03/06/2005 4:26:18 PM MST by The Old Hoosier (Right makes might.)
Not so !
Coors and others lost because the Bushies were so
intent on not offending the Illegal alien vote,
that they stripped the State party
leadership for themselves.
Colorado became more Republican,
when many of us
Reconstructed Southern Democrats
left the Democrat Party after it
was taken over by the socialists
and we registered as Republicans.
I did not change parties; the Democrats left me.
Pollster Floyd Ciruli said Colorado has gradually shifted from a staunchly conservative state focused on anti-tax initiatives and conservative values to a more middle-of-the-road stance.
OBTW
Floyd Ciruli is still and always has been a Democrat.
I used to do shooters with him after the
Democrat State Party Conventions twenty-five years ago.
In His Forever Grip
chuck
It was rather amusing during the campaign how Ken Salazar would conveniently be unable to show up for one lame reason or another whenever Kerry blew into town.
Colo. Democrats Eye Second Senate Seat
Big deal. GOPers are "eyeing" a lot more rat held seats. There is a difference though, we will take the seats we are "eyeing".
Maybe it's time for young conservative Midwesterners and Southerners to consider the old adage "Go west, young man" and offset the deteriorating demographics in the Rocky Mountain states.
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