Like Virginia, Colorado is a blue state that occasionally flirts with Republican candidates. And as in Virginia, the voters here are unhappy that the Democrat running to represent them has lost his independence. They are now listening to the candidate who speaks to them and not just a party line — and polling reflects that. A survey conducted for the Republican Attorney General’s Association shows Bennet up over O’Dea by just one point, 48% to 47% — that in a state Biden won handily less than two years ago.
O’Dea has spent his campaign time listening to voters here. They discuss the impact inflation has had on their personal and professional lives. Business owners in places such as Snowmass and Aspen are struggling to find workers and stay open.
O’Dea says it is the same thing he hears over and over again as he travels across the state. “I’ve been to 60 out of 64, the counties, between the primary and then here at the general election, and the No. 1 issue I’m hearing is economy,” he said. “It’s inflation. It’s how expensive things are and how they can’t afford things that used to be staples in their lives. The price of gas, while it has come down, it is still over $1.25 a gallon more than it was a year ago. People are really, really feeling financially insecure, and they are having to make tough choices between kids being able to go on vacation, kids being able to play sports.”
“And in lower-income areas,” he adds, “it’s a choice between filling up the car and heating the house. It’s groceries at an all-time high, really, really strapping people that just, like I said, they’re just not feeling financially secure at all.”
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