Interesting Perspective on the Salazar-Miles Race

[CO Liberal]

From the Colorado Springs Gazette. Comments in italics mine:

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In contrast to the Republican dogfight, the Democratic contest was fought largely in positive tones. That, said Salazar, was what led to his victory.

He spoke to supporters about his hard-working parents and their desire to educate their eight children. And the two-term attorney general said those ideals will shape the remaining 84 days of his campaign.

Salazar and Miles said afterward that their battle was one of ideas. Miles said, however, that he had neither the time nor the resources to circulate his ideas as widely as his opponent. (He had over two years to get his message out. Ken Salazar had a few months.)

Miles came into the race as a little-known political neophyte but shocked the Democratic establishment when he collected more votes than Salazar at May’s state assembly. After that, however, Salazar plastered the airwaves with commercials while Miles continued his grass-roots campaign. (In other words, grass-roots campaigns may work for local races and issues, but they appear to be impractical and ineffective on a statewide scale.)

Jim Gibson, president of the centrist Colorado Democratic Leadership Council, argued Tuesday that Salazar’s ideas appealed to a much larger segment of the party. He compared Miles’ message of government-funded health care to that of presidential alsoran Howard Dean and Salazar’s emphasis on family values to that of presidential nominee John Kerry.

“Most rank-and-file Democrats are centrists,” Gibson said in explaining the large margin of victory. “They’re not ideological purists.” (Which is why Salazar got 73% of the vote, and Miles got only 27%.)

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