COLORADO 9 Electoral Votes
Obama/Allies  |  McCain/Allies  |  Nader  
Colorado's political landscape has undergone a notable shift in the past four years.  Heading into the Nov. 2004 general election, Republicans held a registration advantage of more than 5 percentage points, had the governor's office, controlled both chambers of the General Assembly, had a 5 to 2 edge in the U.S. House delegation and both U.S. Senate seats.  In his 2004 re-election campaign President Bush achieved a plurality of 99,523 votes (4.67 percentage points). 

Democrats went into the 2008 general election with control of the governor's office, a 4 to 3 edge in the House and one of the Senate seats.  During the course of 2008, Democrats achieved very significant registration gains.  The Democratic National Convention held at Pepsi Center in Denver from Aug. 25-28, 2008 provided a further boost for the party.

Voter Registration, 2008 (Active) - Feb. 5 Precinct Caucuses, Aug. 12 Primary Election, Nov. 4 General Election

Dem.
Rep.
Unaff.
Lib.
Grn.
More
Total
Jan. 25, 2008
634,243 (31.74%)
740,665 (37.07%)
614,923 (30.77%)
4,650 (0.23%)
3,007 (0.15%)
732
1,998,220
Aug. 10, 2008
737,465 (33.19%)
795,660 (35.81%)
677,837 (30.50%)
6,378 (0.29%)
3,949 (0.18%)
840
2,222,129
Oct. 31, 2008
902,444 (34.36%)
892,791 (34.00%)
814,281 (31.01%)
9,489 (0.36%)
5,526 (0.21%)
1,644 2,626,175
Source: CO Secretary of State. 

Obama's Campaign for Change opened a total of 51 offices, and Colorado Democrats also opened 15 Forward Colorado (coordinated campaign) offices.  Republicans also ran a strong ground game

McCain got into some hot water speaking about the Colorado River Compact in an Aug. 14, 2008 telephone interview with the Pueblo Chieftain.  McCain said that the 1922 agreement which allocates Colorado River water among seven states
"obviously, needs to be renegotiated over time amongst the interested parties."  This did not go over well at all.  (See for example Bob Ewegen's Aug. 16 op-ed in the Denver Post "McCain suggests raiding Colorado's water."  Ewegen wrote, "We don't vote for water rustlers in this state; we tar and feather them!")

Obama won with a plurality of 214,984 votes (8.95 percentage points).  The November election not only put the state's nine electoral votes in the Democratic column but took the U.S. House delegation to 5 to 2 and gave the party both U.S. Senate seats. 

See
Charles Ashby. 
"McCain: Renegotiate 1922 Western water compact." Pueblo Chieftain, August 15, 2008. >
Bob Ewegen. "McCain suggests raiding Colorado's water."  Denver Post, August 16, 2008. >

also
: Rob Witwer. "Rocky Ride."  National Review, March 23, 2009.



Travel  compare...
Five Months (June 1-Nov. 4, 2008)
OBAMA-BIDEN McCAIN-PALIN
Barack Obama - 6 visits (8 days)
Joe Biden - 2 visits (6 days)
Michelle Obama (solo) - 5 visits (9 days)
Jill Biden (solo) - no visits
John McCain - 8 visits (11 days)
Sarah Palin - 5 visits (6 days)
Cindy McCain (solo) - no visits
Todd Palin (solo) - 1 visit (1 day)


Newspaper Endorsements
OBAMA
Aspen Daily News  (Oct. 20)
Daily Camera [Boulder]  (Oct. 19)
Cortez Journal  (Oct. 11)
Denver Post  (Oct. 17)   225,193 (36)
Durango Herald  (Oct. 12)
Coloradoan [Fort Collins]  (Oct. 26)
Vail Daily  (Oct. 23)
weekly
El Semanario  (Oct. 23)

McCAIN
Daily Sentinel [Grand Junction]  (Oct. 10)
Longmont Times-Call   (Oct. 19)

Pueblo Chieftain  (Sept. 21)
NO ENDORSEMENT
Rocky Mountain News
Colorado Springs Gazette


Copyright © 2008  Eric M. Appleman/Democracy in Action