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Although the regular opinion polls showed a near
dead-heat in the Republican primary for the U.S. Senate
nomination, Ed's local yard sign survey
successfully
predicted the Coors landslide. There were many Pete Coors
signs, but not a single sign, banner or even bumper sticker
promoting Bob Schaffer.
On the Democratic side, there were some Mike Miles placards, but they were far outnumbered by the Salazar signs, so the yard survey was accurate there, too.
It's too early to use that method to predict the outcome of the general election for the next U.S. senator from Colorado, but it may be possible to predict the course of the campaign. Because our election could determine control of the U.S. Senate, millions of dollars will flow into our state to persuade us to vote against one candidate or the other, and we will be inundated with anonymous accusations and mysterious canards.
At first I figured that this election would be free of
carpetbagger
allegations, since both the Coors and
Salazar families have been in Colorado for generations. But
upon further thought, even that could be fabricated into an
issue, and so we might see the campaign develop along these
lines:
The Center for Draconian Immigration Enforcement
yesterday charged that Ken Salazar, Democratic candidate
for U.S. Senate, would be soft on illegal
immigration,
since there is no record that his
great-great-grandfather, Francisco Esteban de Salazar, had
entered the United States legally when he settled in the
San Luis Valley in the 1850s.
A Salazar campaign spokesperson said that it was true that there was no record of immigration, since Antonio de Salazar started farming near Espanola, N.M., in 1714, long before there was a United States, so the issue was irrelevant.
However, she had an accusation of her own. While
conceding that Adolf Coors, Peter's great-grandfather, had
entered the United States legally in the 19th century, she
stated that It is our understanding that young Adolf
Coors left Prussia to avoid military conscription, and how
can we entrust the security of our country to the
descendant of a draft dodger? Further, what does this say
about the family's true commitment to public
service?
The Coors camp fired back, noting that many people
currently in public service, such as Vice-President Dick
Cheney, avoided the draft, and then switched the topic to
Salazar's record as attorney general, charging that his
office had defended the State Land Board in 2000 when it
tried to sell land for $1,560 an acre when nearby parcels
were going for $12,500 an acre. This shows his real
attitude about getting a good deal for the hard-working
taxpayers of Colorado.
Responding quickly, the Salazar spokesperson pointed out
that the attorney general had a statutory duty to defend
state agencies, then changed the topic. Ken Salazar will
protect Colorado's water and keep it from going to other
states. Contrast that to what Pete Coors does. His company
exports millions of gallons of Colorado water to other
states -- remember, every one of the 22 million barrels
they sold last year holds about 31 gallons of precious
Colorado water -- and they do this just to make
money.
The Coors campaign staff defended the company, saying
that the water loss was minuscule compared to the economic
benefits for Colorado. Further, Every fresh potato from
a Salazar farm is about 80 percent water. A ton of potatoes
thus holds about 200 gallons of invaluable Centennial State
water, and once it leaves, it's gone forever. We think it's
time for Ken Salazar to come clean about how much water his
family has exported over the years, and for him to quit
talking about how he'll protect Colorado water. That's not
a Colorado value.
A Salazar campaign representative asked What does a
Coors know about Colorado values? Didn't they oppose it
when Coloradans overwhelmingly supported statewide
prohibition in 1916?
The Coors campaign office responded with a list of previous multi-millionaire U.S. senators from Colorado, dating back to statehood -- Jerome Chaffee, Horace Tabor, Simon Guggenheim, Lawrence Phipps, etc. -- and said this showed that Pete Coors represented traditional Colorado values.
And if any of these charges and counter-charges really occur this fall, remember, you read it here first.
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