This page is part of an undergraduate assignment at Davidson College.
Colorado Senate candidates Peter Coors (R) and Ken Salazar compete in an economic context which, like the national context, is open to interpretation.
Generally Colorado felt the recession more painfully than the rest of the nation. In the last three years, its gentle growth rate has lagged behind the US average. One hundred thousand jobs disappeared, more than the rate across the nation. That decline hit all sectors of the CO economy and all regions within the state. Moreover, tourism, a sizable industry in the Rockies, fluctuates with national income levels. It suffered accordingly during the recession (CO Economic Outlook, 2004).
That said, Colorado's economic difficulties, though acutely perceived, have not developed into chronic structural problems. The US economy has rebounded, and Colorado has displayed similar resilience. Employment climbed in 2004 and will climb higher next year, bringing increased consumer spending. Record defense expenditures benefit Colorado industry and the Fort Carson area (ibid, 2004).
Even distinct phenomena have explanations suitable to both parties' campaigns -- Reagan and Clinton supporters alike lay claim to the unequivocal prosperity of the '90s, for instance (Shea and Burton, 2001). This mixed economic picture should have similarly mixed effects on the race for the Senate. Coors may have concluded that an economy on the upswing would have helped him on the way to Washington. If voters perceive an unclear economic outlook or even a pessimistic one, his business credentials might have encouraged him to believe himself insulted from association with nationwide pessimism. He has, after all, made his time at Coors a centerpiece of his campaign. On the other hand, voter concern about the labor market could draw attention to Coors Corporation's recorded outsourcing of jobs out of Colorado (Couch, 2004).
Salazar enters the race with union endorsements, a policy permitting drug imports from Canada ("Salazar Proposes Tax Credit for Small Business Health Care," 2004), and Edwards-esque talk about “two Colorados”("Creating Jobs and Economic Opportunity," 2004). Where economic uncertainty provides the backdrop to the campaign drama, Salazar's act might meet more approval than Coors' corporate interest and alleged indifference to Colorado jobs. In the end, however, the "economy [is a] thing[] that voters can feel in their bones" (Shea and Burton, 35, 2001).
The social context has produced several issues that deserve candidate and voter attention.
The intense Republican primary brought to the forefront issues important to conservative voters, among them gay marriage. Coors came under fire for supporting a gay marriage amendment and yet implementing a corporate policy that distributed benefits to gay couples in company employment ("Beer Today, Gone Tomorrow?" 2004), which might cause him to appear uncommitted. Some conservative concern abounds amidst criticism of his sexually appealing beer advertisements ("Salazar Proposes...", 2004)
The fact of Salazar's Hispanic ethnic background could benefit him in a state of 17% Hispanic population (CO DLA, 2000) and growing ("Beer Today, Gone Tomorrow?" 2004). Though Republicans boast more registered voters, 33% report themselves as unaffiliated (Kelly, 2004).