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Budget and Taxes

Colorado Senate candidates Peter Coors (R) and Ken Salazar (D) campaign both as competant caretakers of constituencies' interests and as trustworthy delegates of their policy preferences.

Salazar (“On Deficit Reduction…”)

• Roll back Bush cuts on top 2% of income earners targeted tax credits for health care costs in small businesses “pay as you go” rules and balanced budget amendment cut “wasteful” spending
• Reduce non-defense government payrolls

 Coors

• Bush tax cuts boost economy and thereby government revenues (“On the Issues: Taxes”)
• Cuts for targeted groups: rangers, elderly, rural investors, military (CO: Campaigns Trade Jabs…)
• a “businessman’s scrutiny” (Couch 2004)

The Issue

• objective projection of economic growth
• opinion, values on equality or particular self-interest

Salazar’s campaign portrays him as the delegate-representative who can “deliver the vote” from his constituents to the legislature. This kind of substantive representation attracts voters who see in Salazar an opportunity to get the policy that they want: continued lower taxes for them and reduced budget deficits at someone else’s (some other election constituency’s) expense.

In the Senate chamber, however, Salazar likely will not face the exact bill his constituents might have written. His campaign, likewise, has emphasized Salazar’s credentials for descriptive, trusteeship representation. He is a “champion for the people” who believes in “fairness” (“Fairness” 2004). This form of representation better suits the candidate in a state that politically leans Republican (37% of registered voters) but includes an unaffiliated population (32%) (Kelly, 2004) and enough Democrats that Salazar’s election constituency need not encompass any registered Republicans.  

Salazar represents his constituents well when he indicates his tax plan in greater detail than Coors. Still, he has not risked specifying programs he will cut in order to balance the budget (“Transcript for October 10”).

Coors calculates that Colorado voters will bequeath to him a trustee-style Senate seat on the basis of his trumpeted “businessman’s scrutiny” and tax-cutting philosophy. Offering fewer specifics than Salazar, Coors relies on a election constituency composed of registered Republicans (37%) and likely Bush voters (49%) (“New Colorado Polls...” 2004). From this latter constituency he seeks to play the delegate in Congress, passing along their support for Bush’s tax plan.               

He verbally claims to seek a balanced budget without and policy suggestions in that direction, and some to the contrary according to the CBO (Kenworthy, 2004). He seeks the kind of descriptive, “I’m one of you” representation style that is, to some, implausible to the point of laughter (Lofholm 2004). Coors links his positions to President Bush’s platform and so assures his constituency that he is loyal to the broader Republican values and positions that they also vote for in the president.

Works Cited

Pledged IAW Honor Code