Denver '08

[Front_Range_Guy]

What a great day for Colorado with our new governor delivering an electrifying State of the State address, and the DNC announcing Denver will host it's 2008 National Convention!

[MJLO]

that's awsome for Denver. With Colorado as a republican leaner I wonder if it's calculated, for turning more blue votes.

[Front_Range_Guy]

I don't know that the convention will have very much of an effect on the way people in Colorado vote. I heard someone on tv say this weekend that Colorado is mostly Independents and Libertarians and that in 2004 they voted republican because they were against big government, and in 2006 they voted democratic because they are against the evangelical movement... and I think there is some truth to that. I think the way things are going across the state and whether Coloradoans feel like the current democratic leadership is doing a good job or not will have a lot more to do with the way people vote than the convention. I think that when it comes down to it, Coloradoans will vote for whoever they feel poses the least threat to their freedom and best represents their interests.

[MJLO]

You say the are against the evangelical movement, but isn't it Colorado Springs somewhat of an evangelical mecca?

[teshadoh]

front range guy - Colorado has historically been republican, going back well into the 1800's. There is a very notable pro-democrat wave that has swept the state in the past several years. Of course, Colorado has mostly followed most of the nation (except for the south) in opposing the republican's actions in the past few years & may very well vote predominately republican again. But with a large number of Californians moving to Colorado & the state becoming more of a pro-environmental state, the liklihood of more offices being held by democrats appears likely.

[Front_Range_Guy]

I don't disagree with anything that has been said here... I don't think what I said was necessarily wrong though. LOL.

I'm having a hard time articulating my point here... I don't think it's as cut and dry as saying Colorado has been historically conservative and now it's becoming more liberal. I think Colorado is still conservative, and infact a lot of Coloradoans are swinging in the direction of Libertarian, which is just an extreme Republican... I think at heart Colorado is a republican state, but that Coloradoans don't feel the Republicans are holding true to their principals right now, and that's why the state if voting more democratic... like I said, Colorado will vote for whichever party it feels is best representing it's interests... Obviously Metro Denver and Pueblo County are very blue, but other than that...

Californians have been flocking to Colorado for 15 years, in my experience the Californians coming to Colorado Springs are doing so to escape the liberal politics in CA.

[teshadoh]

Ok - I'll generally agree with you as well - except that Colorado is becoming much more of a moderate state (not necessarily liberal). Regarding the geography of democrats, certainly the more populated areas of Denver & Boulder as well as the tourist towns in the mountains such as Vail & Aspen. This of course amounts to the majority of the population of the state - therefore the political future weighs heaviest on these areas & wherever people are moving to in the future. The rural landscape, like the majority of the nation, is & always will be a traditional conservative area (though in Colorado it is more of a moderate environment than areas I was familiar with in the south).

[teshadoh]

... and front-range-guy, just to make sure you don't think i'm another bleeding heart boulder liberal - I am acknowledging the likelihood that I will vote for a republican in the next presidential race.

[Front_Range_Guy]

I love Boulder bleeding heart liberals, I wish more would move here. Don't get me wrong, I'm neither a Christian nor a conservative, but after years of abuse on SSP for suggesting that maybe... just maybe... not LITERALLY everyone in Colorado Springs is a fringe evangelical conservative, I was forced to really take a look around me, and that's where I get the opinions that I expressed earlier from. I mean, based on what most people who live in Denver would have you believe, there is not one single person who is not a James Dosbson follower in Colorado Springs, and it's just not true. I mean I'm not, and neither are many of my friends and family, and neither are the people partying with me at Club Q or The Underground, or the talented artists in Manitou Springs, Old Colorado City, and the Depot Arts district, the people at The Independent, Colorado College, The PPGLCC, at Pride, the good people at Newspeak, I could go on... I'm probably more moderate than the average Boulder liberal... but it's been a long time since I've voted republican. That being said, having been forced to really pay attention to Colorado politics over the past couple of years because of the constant attacks on SSP, I stand by my assertions that Coloradoans as a whole are A)Naturally conservative but B) Willing to move to the left, if moving to the left means less government intrusion which in today's world it does... and I don't think the DNC being here is going to sway many people here. The liberals who are already here will be energized, the conservatives will be disgusted, and a few people who are on the fence may be influenced by the convention... but lets face it, how many people are there on the fence? Really?

And for the record, yes I freely acknowledge that Colorado Springs and El Paso County are overwhelmingly conservative and are home to large amount of evangelicals, I never said they weren't... and yet if this were SSP you would some how twist around what I said and suggest that I was trying to make that claim, and I'm not. There are good people and good organizations trying to do really great things here because they know what I know, that that this is a wonderful place to live in spite of the evangelical movement, teaming with potential that, if we work hard enough, will be realized because logic and reason alway's trump mythology and hate.

[teshadoh]

I think someone needs a hug.

[Front_Range_Guy]

LOL... Nnyeahh... I get a little... frustrated with the whole situation sometimes. I'm over it

[Front_Range_Guy]

Oops.

Looks like Ritter pissed off the labor unions.