Rocky Mountain Blue

One good thing about election day getting closer is the glut of polls being released, particular on the state level. One such example is Colorado and the news in very good. In the Centennial State Barack Obama and Mark Udall are pulling away from John Sidney McCain III and Bob “Oil Man” Schaffer.

Three polls in the last week have come out of Colorado all of which show an Obama lead ranging from 4% to 10%. While the truth is likely somewhere in between (the PPP poll that has Obama up 7% sounds about right), the fact is that Obama is starting to open up a narrow, but substantial leads in the crucial state. Two polls were also released in the Senate race (an open seat being vacated by perpetually vulnerable Wayne Allard) between Congressman Mark Udall and former Congressman and "Oil Man" Bob Schaffer. Both polls show Udall with a comfortable lead of 48-40%. Colorado has been tight all year. Polls have mostly shown Udall with a 2-4% lead and have indicated that the Presidential race is more or less a dead heat. The Centennial State is typically Republican in national elections.  John Kerry is the only Democratic Presidential nominee to exceed 45.3% of the vote there since 1964. However, Colorado has trended blue the last couple cycles with Democrats taking over the Governorship, a Senate seat and a seat in Congress.  It was also the site of the Democratic Convention last month.

Colorado and its nine electoral votes is key to this Presidential election and completely necessary to the Democrats’ chances of attaining a filibuster proof majority in the Senate. As of right now, an Obama win in Colorado would put John McCain in an extremely tough position in the electoral college. McCain would not only have to sweep the remaining swing states that Bush won in 2004 (Nevada, Missouri, Indiana, North Carolina, Ohio, Virginia, and Florida), but he would also need to win either Michigan or Pennsylvania (or at least one of the much less likely Wisconsin and Minnesota duo) just to have a chance to get to 270 electoral votes.

Help turn Colorado blue by helping Barack Obama and Mark Udall!