Denver November 2004 Election
Bob Schaffer announced his run for Ben Nighthorse Campbell's U.S. Senate seat yesterday. Lt. Gov. Jane Norton dropped out. Here's a story from the Rocky Mountain News [March 16, 2004, "Senate contest clearer"]. From the article, "Barring a last-minute dark horse, it appears the former congressman will essentially stand alone in the Republican primary to replace retiring Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell. Democrats have all-but anointed Attorney General Ken Salazar as their candidate. Lt. Gov. Jane Norton became the latest in a string of big-name Republicans to pass on the Senate race Monday. Her decision, analysts said, removed the last major obstacle between Schaffer and the party nomination. Ted Halaby, the state Republican Party chairman, said no other well-known candidates have expressed serious interest in the race. Halaby also refused to declare the primary field set, but said he hopes to by week's end."
Democrats and Republicans hope for a potential win in November and are discussing what it will take, according to the Rocky [March 16, 2004, "Analysis: Dreams unite parties: Both envision big win"]. From the article, "Democrats have a dream for the U.S. Senate race, and it goes something like this: Ken Salazar routs his lesser-known Republican opponent and drags enough support to the polls to give John Kerry a shot at Colorado's nine electoral votes. Republicans dream that President Bush, surging to a big win in November, will pull enough votes to hand Bob Schaffer a Senate seat."
The Rocky has an article profiling Ken Salazar in today's issue [March 16, 2004, "Salazar's appeal may aid Dems"]. According to the paper, "Other big-name Democrats quickly bowed out when Salazar made his announcement. Congressman Mark Udall stepped aside less than 24 hours after announcing his candidacy. Software developer and geophysicist Rutt Bridges did the same. There was good reason for doing so. Most Democrats think Salazar is the best and perhaps only chance they've got for winning a statewide race in a state where Republicans have nearly a 190,000-voter registration edge over Democrats. Political consultant and pollster Floyd Ciruli said one of the biggest challenges for Democrats in Colorado is to draw votes outside the Denver metro area."
Meanwhile, Mike Littwin, adds sends some barbs out to the Republicans in his column in today's Rocky Mountain News [March 16, 2004, "Littwin: Colorado Republicans field a candidate . . . barely"]. Says Littwin, "Schaffer left the House after three terms because he promised he would, having said "I didn't go there to make friends with the alligators - I went there to drain the swamp." While there, he called Bill Clinton a "tyrant" and boycotted his State of the Union speech. Clinton is gone, but the swamp remains. Schaffer has always been willing to risk making headlines - going back to his statehouse days when he grabbed up the condom brochures from an AIDS exhibit in the Capitol. He'll take his record as one of the most conservative members of the House against Salazar's moderate image as attorney general. On many issues, Salazar has no record, which, in politics these days, is seen as a plus. For Democrats, Salazar is as good as it can get. For Republicans, who two weeks ago considered this a safe seat, it looks like Schaffer is as good as they're going to get."
Update: Brad Freedburg has dropped out of the race for U.S. Senate, according to e-mail posted by Adding Understanding.
Liz Baker is also out.
Update: Election Events 3/14/2004 - 3/21/2004
(I know I'm a bit tardy getting these up.)
From Mike Miles website:
3/16/04 - Boulder 1900 Miles New Delegate Meetup
3/17/04 - Douglas 1900 New Dem Club in Highlands Ranch Highlands Ranch Library at Broadway & Highlands Ranch Blvd.
3/19/04 - La Plata Evening Durango Supporters Rally Durango Rec Center
3/20/04 - Montrose 1800 Montrose County Democrats Annual Red Arrow Motel
Denver Democrats' events are here.
Colorado Republicans' events are here.
The Colorado Democratic Party events are here.
6:32:03 AM 
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