Brightest spots for Democrats

[Blue Rectangle]

Some notes on CO:
Kerry spent a lot of time and money on the state and visited Pueblo only a week before election.  In my opinion, this was a poor strategy that may have cost him OH and the election.  This also made CO a lot closer than it would have been.

The state has changed since 2000, but not dramatically.  The large influx of new residents (from CA and TX, mostly) has moderated the political environment rather than make it more Democratic.  In 2008, the state will still be leaning Republican (the Republican candidate can take the state easily in a close election, the Democrat can only carry it with a big win nationally).

The senate race here had the Republicans suffering from a touch of the Illinois syndrome.  I liked Coors, but he was not as prepared as he could have been for the race.  The party as a whole was unprepared and cocky.  Salazar is a popular and competent guy.  This race was a case of voters voting candidate and not party (clearly, as many Bush voters also voted Salazar).

The state legislature changes were due to purely internal matters and have little to do with the national parties.  Republicans have controlled both houses and the governorship for several years, including during the recent budget shortfalls that have affected most every state.  As is the case in many states, the budget problems have become a huge liability for incumbents.  Just as the recall in CA failed to put that state into the swing column, so does this change mean very little for 2008.

Another note:
Due to the disappearance of Nader as a factor, Bush's PV% in CO went from 50.75% in 2000 to 51.71% in 2004.