Still, this wasn’t — though you may hear differently — another Tea Party v. Old Guard match up. What was different in Colorado? The establishment choice was likely as conservative as any other candidate running. Actually, Tancredo’s designation as a “Tea Party” favorite by the media was more a matter of perception – or probably a lazy shorthand that journalists use for “crazy”. Because of his propensity for self-promotion, and the media’s propensity to blow out every uncompromising statement he makes, the support Tancredo enjoyed among Republicans was always overestimated. Especially by him. For instance, in 2010, conservatives broke out into a three-way battle between Tancredo supporters (and he ran on the Constitution party’s ticket), the Tea Party (behind the deeply flawed Dan Maes), and the Colorado GOP establishment. That race had almost nothing to do with issues and everything to do with egos.
That said … though the media continues to treat Colorado as a Purple state, it’s Blue. Democrats have dominated politics there for almost a decade, winning the governorship twice, both Senate seats, and controlling the legislature for years – though, granted, often by a thin margin. It should also be noted that while Beauprez is clearly the more formidable candidate — if only because it won’t be an ugly squabble over immigration alone — he lost to Bill Ritter by 17 points in 2006. And Bill Ritter was perhaps the least inspiring candidate I can remember in my eight years of covering Colorado politics.
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