Maybe Coors should have had them campaign with him.
Posted on 11/04/2004 5:17:00 PM PST by cilbupeR_eerF
Ken Salazar's campaign plan put him in position to overcome a GOP voter-registration edge and beat out Republican Pete Coors for Colorado's U.S. Senate seat.
Coors, a political neophyte, entwined himself with the policies and rhetoric of President Bush, stressing tax cuts, a strong national defense and "conservative Colorado family values."
Salazar, the state attorney general, shunned most associations with John Kerry yet echoed his populist message, vowing to help the working class and rural communities.
"Coors needs Bush to win really big so he can ride on his coattails, and Salazar needs to look independent so he isn't pegged as a liberal like Kerry," said Jennifer Duffy, a Senate analyst with the Cook Political Report.
Additionally, both candidates needed to win over a significant number of unaffiliated voters.
Because registered Democrats trail Republicans by about 180,000 voters in the state, Coors had a built-in advantage. He also had tremendous name recognition and the benefit of presidential and vice-presidential visits. But his campaign said he needed more than a 20,000-vote edge coming out of Arapahoe and Jefferson counties to offset Salazar's numbers in Boulder.
Early exit polling, however, suggested Coors was significantly trailing Salazar in Arapahoe and Jefferson counties.
And Kerry, despite Salazar's arms-length attitude toward him, ultimately may have helped Salazar - by not hurting him.
Salazar only appeared with Kerry on one of the Massachusetts senator's six forays to Colorado. But on Election Day, it appeared that Kerry was staying competitive in the state, meaning that Salazar didn't have to rely on large numbers of Bush voters crossing over to help him.
Salazar needed not only the unaffiliated voters, but about 8 percent to 10 percent of moderate Republicans, according to his campaign. He also had to win big in metro Denver and win converts in rural communities that tend to vote Republican. As a result, he traveled throughout the state, talking to farmers and ranchers and portraying himself as a moderate.
Early exit polling showed Salazar way ahead of Coors among unaffiliated voters, as well as siphoning off some Republicans. He clearly made a dent in rural Colorado.
Additionally, despite Coors' attempts to emphasize his family in the last days of the campaign, Salazar clobbered the Republican among female voters.
I don't line in Colorado but I can guess that a lot of conservatives were just a little bit troubled by having a candidate who's fortune was made from alcohol - there are a lot of Baptists, Mormons and other teetotalers who would have had to swallow some ideological purity to elect somebody who sold booze for a living.
Secondly, on a personal note, I'm really tired of watching candidates run for and win Senate seats for seemingly no other qualification than having a pile of money. After watching guys like Corzine, Dayton, Cantwell, etc. essentially BUY a Senate seat, I'd have prefered someone who was there because he was an ideologically conservative Republican rather than just a rich one.
Yep. Nothing but a rich kid trying to buy a Senate seat. Coors ads are sleazy anyway which turned off the Christian vote (BUT THOSE TWINS MMMM...)
(I think Dobson's from Colorado?)
Schaeffer probably would have won the seat.
Sorry, can't recall much more than that.
LVM
Bingo ! I saw that debate...and Coors muffed some key issues...including kerrosim..er now..terrorism.
Perhaps he should have the "twins" with him more.
Nighthorse Campbell waited too darn long to bail out of his campaign. That left Coors with little time to organize and the best political mind in the state, Dick Wadhams, working for Thune in South Dakota.
None of the state heavyweights like Owens or McInnis would take on the race.
There was a hard fought Republican primary which left many conservatives lukewarm on Coors.
Coors is a newbie and didn't quite have the knack for making a punchy stump speech or scoring in debate.
Salazar had big name recognition from winning two terms as AG.
But Salazar was a stealth candidate, having taken few controversial positions in his runs for AG. He avoided Kerry and it was hard to define him to the voters as a liberal.
Salazar is from rural Colorado where Coors is all metro Denver. We didn't do as well in many rural areas as we usually do.
Coors ran a solid campaign and the race was close, with little ticket splitting, but there was just too much to overcome.
What was the difference in Rep turnout from the primary?
The electorate in this state is full of idiots who don't understand that in the grand scheme of coalition politics, party trumps person. I hope Ken Salazar and his worthless brother only end up screwing the RINOs and RATs who voted for them.
When a Democrat makes an issue out of that in a campaign, you know the left is losing the culture war in a big way.
I also have a problem with millionaires trying to buy power. Whatever happened to working your way up first? Maybe Coors should have resigned back in the 1990s and first ran for Colorado governor before thinking of buying a Senate seat. Sheesh.
Sheesh, talk about self serving.
Liquid feces? Why wouldn't you just say pi$$?
Maybe Coors should have had them campaign with him.
BTW puritans should love coors. The stuff is so awfull it will drive you to not drinking.
Coors beer is great for unclogging my drain pipes and protecting my garden from critters.
Totally taken out of context by Salazars' media flacks and they exploited the ignorance of the electorate not to notice, same as with his "common man" remarks. Coors said that if 18 year olds are allowed to die for their country in the military then they should be able to come home on leave and buy a beer.
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