New Democrat Bulletin

The Ken Salazar Landslide

By an overwhelming majority, Colorado Democrats have picked Attorney General Ken Salazar as their nominee for the U.S. Senate. With their eyes firmly focused on November, rank-and-file Democrats chose a candidate who expands their party's appeal, not one who limits its reach.

As predicted in June’s New Democrat Update, Salazar did very well because of his excellent record as a public servant and a lifelong commitment to real-life problem-solving. Rank-and-file Democrats - like real people - want solutions that work, not partisan posturing.

While the Attorney General was building a progressive majority coalition, his opponent, Mike Miles, was busy drawing lines in the sand, unsuccessfully trying to take the Democratic Party backwards to its pre-Clinton days. He and his hard-left supporters strongly resent the intellectual and political ascendancy of New Democrats within our party - the very movement most responsible for our party’s recent successes.

The left thinks that strident partisan polarization is the solution to Democrats prevailing in the fall. Somewhere out there, they believe, is a latent, slumbering leftish majority that can be galvanized to vote if only it hears the old-time religion loudly enough.

As Tuesday’s results demonstrate, they could not be more wrong. Large majorities of the rank-and-file in our party know that, under President Clinton’s New Democrat leadership, the 1990s represented America’s most progressive decade since the 1960s. They, along with virtually all independent voters, do not want to send a blank check to the extremists in either party.

Which is precisely the problem of the Republican nominee, whose hard-right candidacy only appeals to a small segment of the electorate. If national patterns are followed, he will try to graft the style and rhetoric of a mainstream message onto a right-wing agenda. Colorado voters will not be fooled.

Ken Salazar is the real deal. His agenda represents a modernization of the progressive political tradition, adjusted for new times, while eliminating the very Democratic weaknesses that were feeding a conservative upsurge - an upsurge that threatens to permanently dominate Colorado politics for the foreseeable future.

Salazar’s message strongly focuses on fostering growth with shared benefits, rather than redistributing wealth upward and insecurity downward. He is a strong advocate of fiscal responsibility, affordable health care, making government work, redesigning our schools for the 21st century, energy independence, and technological innovation. He is offering workers real opportunities to manage their careers and upgrade their skills and helping poor families achieve self-sufficiency and upward mobility.

To fight and win the war on terror, he embraces internationalism, while respecting the nation’s military. Finally, he is more than ready to counter the inevitable Republican slurs on his values.

In addition to his excellent record of results, Salazar’s independent leadership is another strong asset. In sharp contrast to conventional party politicians, he is willing to work with others across the political spectrum to get the job done. His independence from special-interest groups, including those within his own party, is another strong asset. Voters rightly sense that he puts the public interest above special and partisan interests.

With no party commanding majority support, a statewide candidate must prove he or she is better, and bigger, than their party. Clearly, the Colorado Democratic Party’s new nominee for the U.S. Senate is that man.