The Denver Post is releasing a Colorado Senate primary poll that show a
cliffhanger in the GOP primary and not such a close race on the Democratic side. A Mason-Dixon poll taken on August 2 - 4 (just before early voting began) shows Peter Coors leading Bob Schaffer 45-41 with 14% undecided among "likely" Republican primary voters, while Schaffer leads 46-45 among with 9% undecided among "definite" primary voters. Schaffer has a strong lead in Colorado Springs (where religious-right groups have been running negative ads against Coors) and in his home base of northern Colorado, while Coors leads 48-35 in the Denver metro area.
On the Democratic side, Ken Salazar leads Mike Miles 67-21 among likely Democratic voters. Mason-Dixon did not run a "definite" Dem voter sample. Miles spokesperson Liz Gauthier claims Miles' own findings show him running even, so take that for what it is worth.
Possibly most disappointing for Miles is that after two years plus of campaigning, there are still 22% of likely Democratic primary voters in Colorado who do not recognize his name. Also, only 37% of Colorado Democrats have a favorable impression of him (compared to 72% for Salazar), which is really hard for me to explain. Perhaps moderate Democrats view him as too far to the left, or perhaps there is resentment over the fact that Miles' continued candidacy and his supporters' carping about perceived favoritism has forced Democratic leaders to distance themselves from Salazar, thus not taking advantage of the campaign synergy many of us hope will help Democrats on all levels of the ticket (including the very top) in Colorado this November.
Both Republican candidates are getting pretty desperate, and Coors Brewing employees have been caught in the crossfire -- candidate Coors announced yesterday that his company is eliminating abortion as an option in the company's health care plan. This represents an about face from the position Coors and Coors Brewing have been taking during the campaign, which is to separate the candidate's positions from those of the company (even though Coors' experience running Coors Brewing is supposed to be what qualifies him to be a senator). The obvious question for hardcore Republicans is that if Peter Coors can force the company to stop covering abortion, why doesn't he also eliminate domestic partner benefits for its gay employees while he is at it?
Which leads to my favorite questions in the poll -- the ones relating to the negative Republican ads. Do you believe Peter Coors favors gay marriage? (Yes -- 7%, No -- 54%.) Do you believe Bob Schaffer has padded his resume? (Yes -- 20%, No -- 34%). If Schaffer pulls this out, as I suspect he will, Democrats can thank Peter Coors for spending $400,000 of his own money to help raise the ultimate GOP nominee's negatives.