The strange world of losers
A couple of days ago, I posted my opinion that the passage of C bolstered everybody. The Democrats, the Republicans, and the business community all got a big win. While right wing extremists bolstered their name recognition to the point where Caldera and Holtzman are as well known as Salazar and Owens.
But today, I'm not so sure that anybody won at all. I am reminded of when Ken Salazar won his U.S. Senate seat. Ken so moderate that he's barely a Democrat. He has a long record of public service. He is a tested campaigner. And his opponent was a one-issue extremist with no record to run on. Salazar should have crushed Coors by a wide margin. Instead, he squeaked into the Senate.
Similarly, C and D should have been shoo-ins. Instead, C barely passed and D was shot down. The election put a serious dent in Republican Both Ways Bob Beauprez's candidacy for governor. And I haven't heard any of the Denver libs jumping into the race.
Adding to my post-election hangover is the fact that State Sen. Ken Gordon and others are running around pointing out that there is no money from referendum C. It is already promised to various programs that have been sputtering throughout the recession.
But what really sparked all my malaise? This story from coloradopols.com:
"It did not take long for the conservative wing of the Republican Party to start trying to purge those fiscal and social moderates. Already, sitting legislators who supported the Referenda are looking at primaries in 2006. One seat, in the heart of Conservative CD-6, now belongs to Moderate Jim Sullivan, who already has two conservative candidates vying for the support of the county right-ringers. Businessman Victor Mitchell has already filed his candidacy and Tancredo staffer Charcie Russell is not far behind."
Tancredo staffers are running now? Man, I moving to Massachusetts.
But today, I'm not so sure that anybody won at all. I am reminded of when Ken Salazar won his U.S. Senate seat. Ken so moderate that he's barely a Democrat. He has a long record of public service. He is a tested campaigner. And his opponent was a one-issue extremist with no record to run on. Salazar should have crushed Coors by a wide margin. Instead, he squeaked into the Senate.
Similarly, C and D should have been shoo-ins. Instead, C barely passed and D was shot down. The election put a serious dent in Republican Both Ways Bob Beauprez's candidacy for governor. And I haven't heard any of the Denver libs jumping into the race.
Adding to my post-election hangover is the fact that State Sen. Ken Gordon and others are running around pointing out that there is no money from referendum C. It is already promised to various programs that have been sputtering throughout the recession.
But what really sparked all my malaise? This story from coloradopols.com:
"It did not take long for the conservative wing of the Republican Party to start trying to purge those fiscal and social moderates. Already, sitting legislators who supported the Referenda are looking at primaries in 2006. One seat, in the heart of Conservative CD-6, now belongs to Moderate Jim Sullivan, who already has two conservative candidates vying for the support of the county right-ringers. Businessman Victor Mitchell has already filed his candidacy and Tancredo staffer Charcie Russell is not far behind."
Tancredo staffers are running now? Man, I moving to Massachusetts.
4 Comments:
Sure Ken Salazar isn't as liberal as most of us would like. Some of his votes have really ticked me off, especially his "yes" on the bankruptcy bill. But I get REALLY tired of people saying he's practically a Republican. I follow the votes in the Denver Post every week and Salazar votes the more progressive choice way more than half the time. More like 80%. In today's Post you'll see that he is 4 for 4 for our side, while Allard is his usual 100% against. Liberals need to get their heads out of the clouds and other less elevated places and face reality. Fact: Only a moderate Dem can win a state wide Senatorial election at this point in time in Colorado. The same goes for the few competitive congressional districts. That means we have a choice between supporting the Salazars or more "pure" but unelectable candidates and winding up with more Allard clones in office. Our unfortunate tendency to choose the latter is why we are at the mercy of a three branch Republican government in the first place. We started down this road when we unsisted on McGovern (guilty, but I was a young and would have preferred a revolution altogether in thos days)instead of Humphrey. Gee, that worked out swell. What we need to do now is take back at least one house. We can only do that by supporting candidates who can win in our various locales with their various political mixes. Once we do that, incumbent Dems who own a house will feel freer to support more liberal legislation because they'll know they won't have such a tough time just staying in office.
In a somewhat conservative a state like this, sometimes half-a-loaf is the best you can hope for. Ken Salazar may not be a liberal, but his voting record is rated as "more liberal" than any Republican in the Senate. I suspect Coors would not have been so liberal.
I don't think the "moderate" road is the right approach everywhere, or for every race, but I think it will get us the most bang for our buck in Colorado.
UPDATE:
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican leaders in the U.S. House of Representatives abandoned, at least temporarily, a drive to open Alaska's National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling after concluding on Wednesday the initiative was threatening passage of a huge bill to cut spending.
"ANWR and OCS will be out" of the legislation, said House Budget Committee Chairman Jim Nussle, an Iowa Republican.
Besides the Alaska oil drilling initiative, the House spending-reduction bill had also called for opening outer-continental shelf, or offshore areas, to oil and gas drilling.
Norquist called Owens a "traitor" and said his national political career is over.
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