Purple, Heading Toward Indigo

I started to hijack jg's excellent post on Global Warming and its foothold in the Colorado schools. I was going to digress enough that a new post is likely in order.

Out of staters may not have seen, but in our odd-year election, I think every single tax increase on the ballot all across the state passed. There's a hunger for government in the Centennial State. We gave both legislative houses to the Democrats in 2004 and elected a Democratic Governor in 2006.

People who think Americans yearn for liberty have every right to be disheartened that it is slipping away in a part of the country that cherishes independence and has had great prosperity from low taxes and limited regulation. If you can’t sell freedom in Colorado – and you apparently can’t – you need a new PR firm.

Ryan Sagar's Brilliant Elephant in the Room talked about little-l libertarians in the mountain west who tend to vote Republican. I certainly saw myself in that picture, but I do not see a model for electoral success. Nevada sends Harry Reid to the Senate, Arizona -- Goldwaterland, mind you -- has a Democratic Governor, New Mexico and Colorado are in play every election. Utah could not overcome Union resistance to school vouchers.

I think Giuliani might appeal to enough Republicans and moderates to carry Colorado, but I bet my current Congressman, Jeff Udall (yeah, one of those Udalls), will be our next Senator. As Sager says, John Kerry could have just as easily flipped enough votes in the Mountain West to win the election as in Ohio. The machine is broken out here. I don't know how to fix it.

Colorado Posted by jk at November 10, 2007 12:58 PM