So what happened in Colorado?

[Sbane]

Yeah, I know. Udall lost and the Democrats go spanked across the board (except for the Hick!), Ken Buck etc etc.

Still, if you look at the senate race closely and the swing counties, in particular Jefferson, Broomfield and Larimer, Udall should have only lost by maybe a point, perhaps even less than that. The real swing seemed to occur in places like Weld, Adams, Pueblo and Arapahoe counties. There were also large swings in Western Colorado outside the ski areas. In my opinion the reason for this is two fold. The first is that either Hispanics swung to the Republicans or just didn't turn up. The second reason, pertinent in western Colorado, is the backlash against gun control.

Going back to the first reason, it is not as if turnout went down from 2010 in Pueblo. There was just a swing against the Democrats. Why is that? Is it the white vote that swung, Hispanics or a mix of both? If it was the white vote, why did it occur in Pueblo and Weld, and not in Jefferson or Larimer? If it was the Hispanic vote, what are the implications of that? Looking at the national house vote, it shows a large swing to Republicans among Asians but not as much among Hispanics. I think that might not be so accurate, especially in Colorado.

[sg0508]

The GOP is still very weak in CO and last night proved it again.  Hickenlooper was one of the few Democrats in high profile races that met his final polls.  Udall's victory was weaker than expected. 

[Sbane]

Yes, but delving into the numbers a bit, if I just looked at the bellwethers of Colorado and nothing else, my first thought would have been Ken Buck!

[BM]

Meh, Republicans convinced their best/only good candidate to run and he ran a strong campaign. He's a deceptive fraud, but he did a good job at being a deceptive fraud.

Colorado is still a Dem-leaning state.

[sg0508]

The GOP is still very weak in CO and last night proved it again.  Hickenlooper was one of the few Democrats in high profile races that met his final polls.  Gardner's victory was weaker than expected. 

[Senator Cris]

The GOP is still very weak in CO and last night proved it again.  Hickenlooper was one of the few Democrats in high profile races that met his final polls.  Gardner's victory was weaker than expected. 

Weaker?

Latest polls: PPP --> Gardner + 3
                   Quinnipiac --> Gardner + 2
                   YouGov --> Gardner + 1
                   SurveyUSA --> Gardner + 2
Results (92% in): Gardner + 5

[Keystone Phil]

I'll tell you what happen...

KEN BUCK GOT ELECTED TO CONGRESS! CONGRATS, KEN!

[Bigby]

Udall ran as an idiotic extremist on a one-issue campaign.

[Nichlemn]

The GOP is still very weak in CO and last night proved it again.  Hickenlooper was one of the few Democrats in high profile races that met his final polls.  Udall's victory was weaker than expected. 

Ousting an incumbent Senator and coming very close to defeating an incumbent governor, both of which  won by double digits last time = very weak?

[Free Bird]

The GOP is still very weak in CO and last night proved it again.  Hickenlooper was one of the few Democrats in high profile races that met his final polls.  Udall's victory was weaker than expected. 

Lol

[Sbane]

Does anyone have insight into what happened with the political coalitions in Colorado? Again, just looking at the bellwethers, one would think Udall lost by just a point.

[Torie]

Does anyone have insight into what happened with the political coalitions in Colorado? Again, just looking at the bellwethers, one would think Udall lost by just a point.

Could it be a differential turnout issue, with the Pubs running up the numbers in Douglas and El Paso counties?

[KCDem]

Turnout was awful despite vote by mail.

[Sbane]

Does anyone have insight into what happened with the political coalitions in Colorado? Again, just looking at the bellwethers, one would think Udall lost by just a point.

Could it be a differential turnout issue, with the Pubs running up the numbers in Douglas and El Paso counties?

About the same number voted in Pueblo as well as Weld that did in 2010. So what happened there? And why didn't it occur in Jefferson or Larimer? And Udall actually won Broomfield! Maybe his uterus focus worked with the suburban women there? That could be a possible explanation.

[5280]

Does anyone have insight into what happened with the political coalitions in Colorado? Again, just looking at the bellwethers, one would think Udall lost by just a point.

Could it be a differential turnout issue, with the Pubs running up the numbers in Douglas and El Paso counties?

About the same number voted in Pueblo as well as Weld that did in 2010. So what happened there? And why didn't it occur in Jefferson or Larimer? And Udall actually won Broomfield! Maybe his uterus focus worked with the suburban women there? That could be a possible explanation.

Broomfield is sort of an upscale bedroom community with more women compared to Pueblo county is my guess.

[Mr. Reactionary]

The GOP is still very weak in CO and last night proved it again.  Hickenlooper was one of the few Democrats in high profile races that met his final polls.  Udall's victory was weaker than expected. 

Ousting an incumbent Senator and coming very close to defeating an incumbent governor, both of which  won by double digits last time = very weak?

Plus BOTH houses of the state legislature.

[Lief 🗽]

The GOP is still very weak in CO and last night proved it again.  Hickenlooper was one of the few Democrats in high profile races that met his final polls.  Udall's victory was weaker than expected. 

Ousting an incumbent Senator and coming very close to defeating an incumbent governor, both of which  won by double digits last time = very weak?

Plus BOTH houses of the state legislature.

They might, but it's not certain yet.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Fairly clear that the Colorado Dems misread the state in an amusingly similar way to past misreadings by the Colorado Republicans.

[Holmes]

Fairly clear that the Colorado Dems misread the state in an amusingly similar way to past misreadings by the Colorado Republicans.

Which is sad because the signs were there a year out. But despite the fact that Udall ran a crappy campaign, I thought Colorado Democrats would be able to get out their voters to the polls. They couldn't even do that.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

The GOP is still very weak in CO and last night proved it again.  Hickenlooper was one of the few Democrats in high profile races that met his final polls.  Udall's victory was weaker than expected.  

Shaheen seems to have actually outperformed her polls a bit.

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

Does anyone have insight into what happened with the political coalitions in Colorado? Again, just looking at the bellwethers, one would think Udall lost by just a point.

I haven't been very politically active the last two years (work has been busy), but the handful of committed fracking opponents I'm friends with felt that they'd been thrown under the bus by the state Democratic party. They were so angry when I spoke with them a few weeks ago, that if they voted, they voted Green, not D.

[Person Man]

One thing is certain- Democrats need Colorado and won't be able to win without it in 2016. When other states get obliterated by the Republican Blitzkrieg, they were able to do something.

[Ljube]

One thing is certain- Democrats need Colorado and won't be able to win without it in 2016. When other states get obliterated by the Republican Blitzkrieg, they were able to do something.

I don't think so. The Electoral College is skewed in Democratic favor. The following is a very realistic win for Democrats. This is a win where Democrats lose the popular vote by about 1%.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Nothing different from what happened in the rest of the country. The GOP did well overall and thus swept swing States.

[Sbane]

Nothing different from what happened in the rest of the country. The GOP did well overall and thus swept swing States.

I think Colorado shows the problems Democrats have with non-black minorities. They just aren't going to line up and vote for them no matter what, unlike blacks. If hispanics and asians decide to not vote in a presidential year, like they did this year, then winning the presidency becomes much harder. Especially if blacks go back to voting 90-10 as opposed to 95-5 for Obama.