Sunday, August 6, 2006

Fall ballot issues Colorado Pols: "The biennial assault of the petition circulators is nearly over. Monday is the cut-off to turn in petitions for the November ballot." Category: Denver November 2006 Election 9:29:14 AM

Courting religious voters Colorado Democrats are hoping to learn how to woo religious voters to vote for Dem candidates and issues, according to the Denver Post. From the article, "The Colorado Democratic Party staged a strategy meeting Saturday not in a soulless hotel conference room but at a seminary. Speakers included pollsters and politicians, but also a Methodist minister and a Catholic sister. A table was stacked with new books from the religious left and 'Jesus Rode a Donkey' bumper stickers. Two years after 'values voters' were credited for Republican victories, Democrats are trying to figure out how to reframe the debate around wedge issues, attach moral weight to priority issues for Democrats and discuss their own faith without coming across as insincere. Saturday at Denver's Iliff School of Theology, candidates and party activists took steps toward those goals during a conference one participant said never would have happened four years ago. 'We as Democrats have to learn not to ignore issues of faith,' said Colorado Democratic Party chairwoman Pat Waak. 'We have to learn how to communicate - communicate, not persuade - with voters about abortion, gay marriage, immigration and other issues.' In 2004, pollsters found 22 percent of voters identified 'moral values' as the campaign's most important issue, though subsequent research found the Iraq war and terrorism concerned voters more than gay marriage and other social issues." Category: Denver November 2006 Election 9:08:55 AM

Fall ballot issues Diane Carman explores the fall ballot initiatives and their role as wedge issues, in her column in today's Denver Post. She writes, "When political junkies woke up all bleary-eyed and fuzzy-headed on Nov. 3, 2004, the thing they couldn't fathom - even after strong coffee - was what the heck happened in Colorado. While the rest of the country was electing Republicans willy-nilly, Colorado replaced Republicans with Democrats in the U.S. Senate and the 3rd Congressional District and elected Democratic majorities in the state Senate and House for the first time in 40 years... "Most bewildered morning-after pundits focused on the money. Contributions from millionaire political activists had financed soft-money campaigns that most people assumed had turned the corner for Democrats in key districts. But that was just the half of it. Daniel Smith, a political scientist at the University of Florida who taught at the University of Denver from 1994 to 2003, has analyzed the 2004 election in Colorado, and his findings suggest that two ballot initiatives - FasTracks and Amendment 37, the renewable-energy measure - changed the perspectives of voters in ways most political analysts are only beginning to understand. The measures didn't drive turnout so much as they altered perceptions, he said. Voters looked at politicians 'through a different lens.' It was no accident. Thad Kousser and Mathew McCubbins, political scientists from the University of California-San Diego who also studied the Colorado election, found that Democratic Party political operatives began planning the strategy in 2002... "This year, both parties want to exploit their favorite wedge issues to buoy candidates in tight races. So surrogates have floated measures to impose term limits on judges, legalize marijuana possession, increase the minimum wage and reprise the gay-marriage debate yet again. The strategy could be even more influential than it was in 2004. Between 1980 and 2004, the data show that for every initiative on a ballot, turnout in midterm elections increased slightly. During presidential elections, ballot initiatives prompted a smaller increase in turnout. And in a tight governor's or 7th Congressional District race, even a small increase in turnout could change everything. And since initiative campaigns aren't subject to campaign-finance limitations, voters can be bombarded with the not-so-subtle messaging ad nauseam." Category: Denver November 2006 Election 9:04:40 AM

© Copyright 2006 John Orr. Last update: 9/1/06; 7:22:17 AM.