I just received this from the Colorado Democratic Party. Chris Gates is no prize, either, but like Salazar, he'll be hard to challenge.
The following letter is from U.S. Senator Ken Salazar:
February 1, 2005
Dear Friend,
Results matter. For the first time in over a decade, we have re-established a foothold in the Rocky Mountain West to build upon not only in Colorado but to serve as a model for the rest of the West, and indeed the country.
We won back a U.S. Senate seat and a U.S. House seat--and made Colorado history in the process.
We gained the leadership of the entire legislature for the first time since John Kennedy was President.
We won local government races in areas of the state that surprised many long-time observers.
We need to build on these accomplishments to firmly re-establish the Democratic Party in Colorado as the true party of the people. We need to build upon these successes to continue to represent the hopes and aspirations of our citizens.
At a time when the Colorado Republican Party's chairman is stepping down because of these Democratic victories, we should be returning to the chair the person who successfully presided over this historic renaissance of the Colorado Democratic Party--our chairman Chris Gates.
We need to stand as a Party united, building upon these electoral successes. That is why I strongly endorse and encourage your support for the re-election of Chris Gates as Chair of the Colorado Democratic Party.
Sincerely,
Ken Salazar
All I have to add, beyond the obvious irony of Senator Salazar's call for unity, is that the "Colorado miracle" is not a recipe for success in your state. Unless you happen to have the peculiar combination of:
- independent-minded voters
- swing state status
- little national attention from the GOP
- some true Republican lunatics in state races
- thousands of out-of-state Dem volunteers
- even more thousands of energized Coloradans who were determined to succeed with or without Gates' help
- luck
If you have those ingredients, then by all means stir them up, win a fairly pyrrhic victory, then keep patting yourself on the back until 2006.