Colorado. The Colorado GOP establishment settled long ago on beer heir Pete Coors as their favored nominee for this fall's tight Senate race, but the religious right is making some trouble for him in the primary. The concern is less about issues (Coors hews to the conservative orthodoxy on gay rights, abortion, guns, and other hot-button issues) than about the propriety of his company's racy advertisements featuring the Coors Light Twins, Diane and Elaine Klimaszewski. The subtext, however, seems to be concerns about Coors Brewing Company's efforts over the years to market itself to the gay and lesbian community. As primary rival Bob Schaffer put it, Coors is "one of the most gay-friendly companies in the nation," a potentially deadly liability among dogmatic primary voters.
The Democratic Party's plan to hand the nomination to Ken Salazar, the state's moderate attorney general, who is thought to hold strong appeal in Colorado's growing Latino community, has hit a hitch of its own. At the party's state convention in May, Mark Miles, an educator and political novice from Colorado Springs, stole an upset 52-48 victory, earning himself top spot on the primary ballot. Like Schaffer in the GOP, Miles' campaign is based on purebred base appeal -- universal health care, opposition to the Iraq War, and opposition to school vouchers. The outcome of these dual contests, each pitting ideology against pragmatism, could well determine the result in the general election.
Louisiana. A May 19-26 poll by Verne Kennedy of Marketing Research Institute shows Rep. David Vitter, a Republican, in the lead with 35 percent, trailed by the Democratic state treasurer, John Kennedy, who has 22 percent. Next up is Democratic Rep. Chris John (18 percent), who has the support of retiring Sen. John Breaux.
But the most important factor for Democrats is not how well Kennedy and John are doing this month. It's what former governor Buddy Roemer, a Democrat-turned-Republican, decides to do next month. "A Roemer candidacy could shake up an already unpredictable Senate contest," according to The Times-Picayune. He hasn't thrown his hat into the ring yet, although he told The Los Angeles Times that he would make his decision within weeks. If he does enter the race, it could ultimately go to a Democrat.
How's that? If nobody gets more than 50 percent of the vote in the Nov. 2 primary (and chances are nobody will), the top two winners will compete in a Dec. 4 runoff, regardless of which party they belong to. With Roemer splitting the Republican vote, one of the top two vote-getters could be a Democrat, who'd then have a decent shot at the Senate seat in December. No wonder a lot of Republicans are anxious about the governor's plans.
North Carolina. Things are looking up for Erskine Bowles this week: According to a poll released Wednesday, Bowles has widened his lead over Republican Rep. Richard Burr to eight points. The poll (a collaboration between Raleigh-Durham's WRAL-TV, The News & Observer, and WUNC radio) shows Bowles with 47 percent of the vote among likely voters, while Burr clocks in with 39 percent. The results aren't just a temporary uptick for Bill Clinton's former chief of staff; since November Bowles has been steadily gaining popularity in his home state.
This is Bowles' second Senate run. Hoping to fill Jesse Helms' seat in 2002, Bowles lost to Elizabeth Dole by a 9-point margin. But he didn't have to wait long to run again. In early September, Sen. John Edwards declared that he would not seek reelection in the Senate in order to focus his energy on a bid for the presidency. This time around Bowles faces Burr, a fifth-term congressman with deep pockets. Burr currently leads Bowles in the money race, but it is looking to be a costly campaign for both men. Indeed, the pair are set to outspend the $27 million that bankrolled the 2002 contest between Bowles and Dole -- the most expensive campaign in North Carolina history.
South Carolina. Ernest Hollings may be a swell guy, but that's not the main reason Democrats are sad he's retiring from the Senate. Holling's impending retirement leaves vulnerable a long-held Democratic Senate seat. Needless to say, Republicans are chomping at the bit. Cue Democratic State Superintendent of Education Inez Tenenbaum. Called “petite and steely” by The New York Times and “one of the states more popular elected officials” by South Carolina's Rock Creek Herald, Tenenbaum is working to keep the state's Senate seat Democratic by out-Republicaning the Republicans. Distancing herself from the national Democratic Party and John Kerry on issues of abortion, war, the death penalty, and gay marriage, Tenenbaum is positioning herself as “an independent voice willing to stand up to radicals on both sides of the aisle.”
Her truly Republican opponent, Representative Jim DeMint, slid to an easy primary victory this Tuesday against former South Carolina governor David Beasley. DeMint, labeled a fiscally conservative rising star by The Washington Post, is one of those right-wing radicals Tenenbaum promises to fight if she makes it to Washington. So far, South Carolinians have been impressed with DeMint's charismatic style and relatively fresh face. But none of his opponents have forcefully brought up some of his more… outlandish points of view. Take this quote from a lecture DeMint gave to the Heritage Foundation in 2001: "We must have a new tax code that allows all voters to see and feel the cost of government," he counseled. "Using the tax code to help low-income workers only disconnects them from the responsibilities of freedom."
DeMint concedes that his position on taxes won't gain him votes in his economically downtrodden state and adds that he doesn't plan to make his tax plan part of his campaign stump. Tenenbaum, on the other hand, shouldn't pass up that opportunity.
Compiled by the Prospect staff. Click here read last week's Purple People Watch.
