2003 Denver Mayoral Election
The people have spoken, Don Mares, Denver's current auditor, and John Hickenlooper, Denver's favorite brewer, will face off in a runoff election in 3 weeks. Here's the coverage from the Rocky Mountain News. From the article, "In election after election, the candidate who won Round 1 lost in the runoff, like Federico Peña did in 1987 and like Webb did in 1991 and 1995. But Hickenlooper has something they didn't: A 20-point lead over his closest rival. That will make him tough to beat June 3, said Lori Weigel, a partner in Public Opinion Strategies." I think they mean that Pena and Webb won after losing in the first round. The Rocky has a short bio for Mares and Hickenlooper. Here's the coverage from the Denver Post.
The Post quotes Phil Perington as saying, ""I don't plan on calling either one of them, It is all about marketing. Neither one of those candidates came up with any solutions or answers." Sour grapes Why would either candidate call Perington? I think they'll be working people that voted for Zavaras, Casey, and Tate. My tally shows at least 31.58% of the voters need to switch candidates now. Can Mares pick up most of those votes? Yes. Can Hickenlooper? Yes. A significant chuck of the votes that the two front runners didn't get are party regulars, police, fire, women, african-american, hispanic. Do they want someone from outside of political circles? Maybe. Can Mares get out the vote on election day? Yes. Does Hickenlooper have the people around him that know how to win elections? Yes. Will the Rocky keep lashing out at Mares? Probably. Will that help Hickenlooper? Maybe. The June 3rd election is not in the bag for either candidate. What fun.
The Denver Post is highlighting the approach John Hickenlooper plans for the runoff. Apparently Don Mares is taking Don Bain's advice and trying to define the discussion from the start. Mares went on the offense immediately says the Post. From the article, "The early offensive was designed to clearly identify Mares as the experienced candidate while painting Hickenlooper as a candidate interested in business and development."
The Post has a view on the type of campaign that's ahead along with some advice from pundits.
Here's a column from the Denver Post delivering a post mortem on Ari Zavaras' campaign. They're right about the consultant gravy train and Zavaras failing to reach out to voters. I was at the Empress on Alameda at lunch one day a couple of weeks ago. Zavaras, Greg Sulley and a couple of other people were seated at the next table. I know Greg from North Denver politics. Zavaras didn't say anything to any of us around the restaurant. No handshakes, no waves, no request for support. He and his advisors were too caught up with themselves. My lunch companion said to me, "See, he thinks he's already won. He acts like he doesn't care."
7:10:17 AM 
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