Bridget…One note of correction. Referendum C loosened mandated spending caps the Taxpayers Bill Of Rights (a separate measure) required. This is what the Democrats had been dying for and what conservatives (but not necessarily all Republicans) in Colorado were so angry about. A number of moderate and big business Republicans got on the spending gravy train and that’s what split the party. The Dems are trying every loophole they can find to raise taxes via new “interpretations” of existing laws and are targeting oil and gas severance tax hikes through another initiative this year.
Though there’s now support for more drilling in Colorado, Republicans in Tom Tancredo’s open 6th District (south Denver metro suburbs) rejected a Congressional candidate in a primary who ran hard on the issue. It’s not certain whether this will be a winning strategy among the larger base where Independents have the largest percentage and tend to vote for the most centrist looking candidate, whether they really are or not.
The Dems have been outspending the Republicans in Colorado largely due to outside money from a small number of extremely wealthy and liberal benefactors who organize 527s to evade some rather draconian spending limits in local races. Money is also flowing in from out of state by the truckload and the Republicans are way behind in defending Schaffer from the smears.
