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The Obama campaign is trying to assemble the same coalition that Senator Michael Bennet built in 2010, when he managed to win a full term against a conservative Republican in a year in which Democrats struggled both in Colorado and nationally.
Bennet, a surprise pick to fill a Senate vacancy in 2009 who was considered to be at great peril of losing the seat, capitalized on a yawning gender gap and strong support among Hispanics to win.
In the process, he showed the way for the Obama campaign to pull off a victory in the state despite his lagging popularity among white men.
The Obama campaign believes that it has the advantage, given its edge in registering voters in the state and Romney’s positions on immigration and women’s issues.
“It could go either way,” said Dick Wadhams, a former head of the state Republican Party and a Colorado campaign strategist.
Democrats and Republicans believe that the outcome will be decided by voters in the suburban Denver counties of Arapahoe and Jefferson, particularly women, but also Hispanics — the same voters who were so crucial to Bennet in 2010.
He was up against Ken Buck, a state prosecutor who had won a primary against Jane Norton, a former lieutenant governor, despite some notable flubs, including his saying that he was a stronger candidate because “I do not wear high heels.”
Remarks like that, and his opposition to abortion in the case of rape or incest, provided an opening for Bennet to reach out to women who were conservative on economic issues but were wary of Buck on the abortion issue and a rape case that he had declined to prosecute, which he explained by saying the victim might have had “buyer’s remorse.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/02/u...democratic-win.html?google_editors_picks=true
Bennet, a surprise pick to fill a Senate vacancy in 2009 who was considered to be at great peril of losing the seat, capitalized on a yawning gender gap and strong support among Hispanics to win.
In the process, he showed the way for the Obama campaign to pull off a victory in the state despite his lagging popularity among white men.
The Obama campaign believes that it has the advantage, given its edge in registering voters in the state and Romney’s positions on immigration and women’s issues.
“It could go either way,” said Dick Wadhams, a former head of the state Republican Party and a Colorado campaign strategist.
Democrats and Republicans believe that the outcome will be decided by voters in the suburban Denver counties of Arapahoe and Jefferson, particularly women, but also Hispanics — the same voters who were so crucial to Bennet in 2010.
He was up against Ken Buck, a state prosecutor who had won a primary against Jane Norton, a former lieutenant governor, despite some notable flubs, including his saying that he was a stronger candidate because “I do not wear high heels.”
Remarks like that, and his opposition to abortion in the case of rape or incest, provided an opening for Bennet to reach out to women who were conservative on economic issues but were wary of Buck on the abortion issue and a rape case that he had declined to prosecute, which he explained by saying the victim might have had “buyer’s remorse.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/02/u...democratic-win.html?google_editors_picks=true