Election excitement hits Colorado

For whatever reason, Colorado with its nine electoral votes, is "in play" this year, as a key determiner in the presidential contest.

For years, candidates flew over the Rocky Mountain and plains states, on their way from the vote-rich East and Midwest, on their way to California. Barack Obama spoke in Grand Junction, Colorado yesterday, the first Democrat since Harry Truman to campaign there as a presidential candidate.

This still seems questionable on a raw numbers basis, as big states like Michigan, Pennsylvania and Ohio are very close in the polls. It takes all the Rocky Mountain states together to equal what one of the biggies will do for your campaign in the Electoral College. And yet, Colorado broadcast airways are full of expensive presidential campaign commercials.

After Obama was here for the Democratic National Convention in late August, John McCain and Sarah Palin together were in Colorado Springs a week ago. This week, Palin was in Golden Monday, while Obama spent a day and a half here, visiting Golden again and Pueblo, in addition to the Grand Junction stop.

Colorado has a narrow plurality of registered Republicans, with Independents next and Democrats third among the registered voters. Bush carried the state both times, but more recently we have elected a Democratic governor in Bill Ritter, U.S. Senator in Ken Salazar and a majority of the seven-member congressional delegation are currently Democrats. That's why Obama thinks there's hope.

We undoubtedly have not seen the last of the major party candidates in the remaining 49 days until the election, unless one or the other jumps out into a big lead in the polls. McCain is from neighboring Arizona, so should sweep the Rocky Mountain states--but such a trend is not apparent yet.

We'll just continue to bask in the glow of all the attention.