Colorado seems to have gone blue, and it’s up in the air as to whether it will ever go back to purple, much less to red; but the Colorado GOP has hope. As for me, color me skeptical. Excerpt:
It’s said that elections are MRIs for the soul. Well, this month’s election clearly gave Colorado Republicans plenty to think about. Democrats swept every statewide race on the ballot, took over the state senate, grew their majority in the state house, and knocked off a five-term congressional incumbent. Immediately, the question was asked: Has Colorado turned permanently blue?
Before the left gets too excited, we should look at some of the other recent feedback from voters.
Just two years ago, Coloradans voted down single-payer health care by a 58 percent margin. This year, voters soundly defeated two massive tax hikes, rejected an extreme setback for oil and gas development, and embraced a new process for redistricting and reapportionment that will make it harder for Democrats to draw gerrymandered maps.
So then, how do Republicans turn policy agreement into future electoral success?
Well, I have a few ideas aside from the ones mentioned in the linked article.
First, stop the circular firing squad the Colorado GOP has apparently been in since Bill Owens left the Governor’s mansion. In 2010 Tom Tancredo – and qualifier, I’ve met Tom and like him, but sometimes he’s a little too willing to fall on his sword – Peroted our gubernatorial election, handing the our current outgoing Governor Hickenlooper the election. Granted, Hickenlooper probably would have won in any case, but that was a dumb move.
Also in that year, we fielded two Senate primary candidates who may have played in other states but not in purple Colorado – Ken Buck and Jane Norton – and lost that race to the current incumbent, Michael Bennet.
Let’s face it, the Denver/Boulder Axis has probably taken over Colorado. When I moved to Colorado in 1988, it was pretty much still South Wyoming; now it’s East California, in large part because of migration from that failing state. I don’t see a way back in the foreseeable future, optimism among the Colorado GOP notwithstanding. At least for Mrs. Animal and yr. obdt., the future lies in our move north to Alaska, which we have planned for many years not for political reasons but because we love Alaska and have always wanted to live there.
But I’ve loved Colorado, too. I’m sorry to see it swinging left.
